Kindergarden Date
by KaylaMiller
Summary: Aaron Sheppard Loved His Teacher...And He Just Knew His Dad Would Love Her As Much As Did, If He Could Just Meet Her. AU JATE
1. The Idea

Aaron Sheppard loved going to school so every morning he'd be up before he's dad waiting for him to tell his son that it was time for school.

The little boy climb into the bed that he's father was fast asleep in, and gently touched his arm with the tip of his finger "Daddy" he whispered. Realizing he's dad wasn't waking he decided a more appropriate tone.

"DADDY!" the little man yelled as loud as he could,

The older man jump up immediately, and grabbed the boy "Morning Buddy! Why you so loud this morning?" He asked while knowing all the while that his son was happy for school

"It's a school day Daddy!" Aaron told his father matter of factly

The pair got out of bed and headed downstairs to get some breakfast, on the way down, Aaron was telling his dad about how he was now big because he was in school with a new teacher.

"Oh really? Well big boys eat toast and drink coffee in the morning" He father teased

Aaron laughed at his dad "I'm not that big Daddy, Can I still have Lucky Charms"

After they both ate they headed back upstairs to get dressed and ready for work and school. Shortly after Aaron came into the room all dressed in his t-shirt and his jeans, he walked up to his dad, who was wearing black dress pants and a blue shirt and was tying his tie

"Daddy why don't you wear jeans to work?" The boy asked wanting to know why he didn't have to wear those weird pants

Jack laughed "I'm not allowed"

Aaron seems shocked "You mean you have rules at work like me at school?"

"Yup, Grown up's have rules too"

"Who's your teacher Dad?" the boy asked, Jack thought for a minute than replied "I guess that would be your grandpa"

* * *

At the school doors, Jack let Aaron off and walked him into school, giving him a hug and kiss before leaving

"Daddy remember I have a soccer game after school" He made sure to tell his dad before going into class

"I know Budd; I'll pick you up after school today ok sound good?" He said

Aaron smiled excitedly and ran into his classroom, once he knew his son was safe in the school, Jack got back in the car and went to work, praying something didn't come up at the hospital to make him miss his son's game again, he really didn't want to disappoint him this time

In the classroom Aaron sat down with his friends "Good Morning Kids" the teacher walked in

"Good Morning Miss Austen" they all replied Aaron being the loudest

While Miss Austen read _we share everything_ to them, Billy the bully was shooting paper at the back of everyone's heads

"Billy do I have to meet with your father again? Stop shooting stuff in the classroom" Teacher Austen stated

The bell rang at that moment and the kids went outside, Aaron and his best friend Will were playing on the jungle gym when Billy came over, Aaron and Billy didn't talk, mostly because Aaron was scared of him, but today it was different he wanted to ask him something

"You're dad meet Miss Austen?" Aaron asked

Billy looked at him with an evil grin "So what?"

Aaron shrugged "Did he like her?" Billy laughed "Everyone likes her stupid" with that the bully walked away to go pick on some of the other kids

Aaron sat at the top of slide thinking about what Billy said, Maybe if I had a Mom, Daddy wouldn't work so much and they could both come to my soccer games, He knew that Billy's dad meet Miss Austen because he was bad, the boy sat there thinking of ways to get his dad to have to come meet with his teacher, because he just knew that he would like her just as much as he did.

The little girl behind him tapped his shoulder "Are you gonna slide?" she asked so he slid down the slide, walking over to the sand to sit down

So how was he going to get his dad here?

**Tell me what you think?!**


	2. A Message

Kids. Sure when a child is born, it's magical, as they grow up they are nothing but innocent and adorable. Then comes the time when they start to walk, and break things and drive you crazy until you can't wait for them to be old enough to go to school. Once they are in school and you think it will get easier, but it doesn't because they get a mind of their own and all your work of teaching them wrong from right, it's gone and now that little adorable little kid is on the loose, and when that happens you better have you're guard up.

The rest of Aaron's day was spend playing with the blocks and painting pictures, he painted one just for miss Austen, and he told her about how it was his dad, and he was a doctor and every other good thing about his daddy. Then when school was done Aaron walked outside for his dad to pick him up and take him to soccer practice.

But when he walked outside he didn't see his dad, figuring he'd be there soon he waiting until he heard his name being called

"Aaron!" When he saw the man calling he was disappointed to notice it wasn't really the man he wanted to see

"Hi Grandpa, Where Dad?" The young boy asked the older man

He sat down next to his grandson and laid a hand on his shoulder "He had something come up, at the hospital" The boy shook the comforting hand off his shoulder

"He always has something" He said as he stood up

"Hey little man, your daddy's a doctor, that a important job" the man said trying to comfort the very hurt little boy

The boy looked up "More important than me?" The older man was stunned, he didn't know what to say so he wrapped his arms around the boy's small frame and whispered "Nothing is more important than you"

When they pulled apart they began to walk towards the car "You ready to go show an old man like me how to play soccer?"

The boy laughed and jumped into the car, and they made they're way to the field. Aaron's practice went great; he showed his grandpa how good he played soccer, the whole time wishing he could show his dad. On the way back home, Aaron remembered Miss Austen, so he thought maybe grandpa could help him out with that,

Without knowing it of course.

"Grandpa how do you get a girl to like you?" The little guy asked

The man laughed "Why you got a little crush buddy?" Aaron laughed "Maybe"

"Well you hang around them a lot, and you my friend have a very special gift, you are a Sheppard, Irresistible with the exception of maybe your dad right?" He joked

The little boy laughed.

The next morning Aaron woke up, brushed his teeth and got dressed before his dad got up. Because today was the day he was going to get his teacher and his dad to meet.

He met his dad in the kitchen; he was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal when the man walked in.

"Morning dad" He greeted the man smiled "Morning Bud"

"Listen I know I missed your game but I promise I'll make it up to you tonight okay?"

Aaron shook his head "It's okay Daddy, But umm I'm going to Grandma's tonight, can we do something the next day?" He asked hoping that tonight for once in his life he's dad would be busy

"Uhh Yeah, Alright, We can do that, So umm how did the game go?" Jack asked his little man

"Good" he simply said

Jack later dropped Aaron off at school and once again went to work at the hospital.

Meanwhile at school Aaron was having a pretty normal day, he did everything he usually does, until after lunch when Aaron knew he had to get his dad here.

"Hey Will" He said and his friend looked at him while they were both painting,

and before he did he told Will 'sorry' and flung the paint off the brush that hit his friend right on the nose

"Aaron, Come here Please!" The teacher called him over, he walked over with his head down

"Why did you do that? Will is your friend" She asked the child

He just shrugged "If you don't tell me, I am going to have to speak with your parents buddy"

The boy just sat still not saying a word, but completely smiling inside.

Jack pulled in the driveway around 10, opened the door, and placed his jacket on the kitchen table. He meets his mother in the living room, who informed him that his little boy was fast asleep, before letting herself out. He walked over to the couch, and noticed that the little red light was on, on the answering machine, telling him he had a message, and before he drifted to sleep on the sofa he heard…

"_Hello This is Miss Austen, I am Aaron's teacher, Aaron got into some trouble today after lunchtime, Which isn't like him, I'd like to speak with you tomorrow at 4, If you can't make it for any reason please call and we can pick another time, Thank You" _

End Of Message.


	3. Soccer Balls new ending

**I rewrote the ending of this chapter,with a slower pace**

Jack awoke to a sharp pain in his back, realizing he slept on the coach and remembering the message he heard before falling into an uncomfortable sleep. He jogged up the stairs, got into another suit and hooked a tie around his neck. Then he walked over to Aaron's room.

He was faced with the sleeping boy, curled up with his blanket, face buried in the pillow, the sight kind of made Jack not want to wake him, but he had school and they had to talk about what had happen at school the day before.

Jack gently touched the boy's forehead, and placed a soft kiss there "Hey sport, time to wake up"

Aaron lazily rubbed the sleep from his eyes "Morning daddy" Aaron said softly with a yawn

"Good morning sport" As Aaron sat up in his bed, he watched his dad grab him some clothes from his dresser

"Come on Buddy, get dressed meet me downstairs "

Aaron nodded and began to get dressed. When he was done he headed downstairs to meet his dad.

He walked into the kitchen and sat at the stool across from Jack.

"So I got a phone call last night, from Miss Austen" Jack said to his little boy wanting to know why he got that phone call

Aaron sat with his fist curled into a ball resting on his cheek, not saying anything

"You want to tell me why?" Jack continued

Aaron shrugged "I shot some paint at Will" he simply stated

Jack was caught off guard Aaron had always been good at school, and home, never any problems, and Jack always thought Will was Aaron best friend.

"Why would you do that?"

Aaron looked up and lied "He said my picture was ugly"

Jack just stared at his son for a while "Aaron I know that wasn't very nice of Will, and I am sure your picture was wonderful, but that is no reason to throw paint"

Aaron looked down sadly, "I know daddy, I'm sorry" Jack nodded "Ok so you will say that to Will and tell Miss Austen when we meet with her tonight right?"

Aaron nodded yes and looked back down at his hands on the table.

"Ok, what do you want for breakfast buddy?" Jack asked

He thought for awhile "Can I have mommy's favorite?" he asked and Jack smiled at the memory of the day he told Aaron about that, He nodded and began to make breakfast

"Peanut Butter sandwich it is" He smiled

After School, Aaron was the last to leave knowing that his dad would be there soon for the meeting.

Miss Austen wondered over to Aaron after the bell, with a look on her face as if to say sorry

"He isn't coming is he?" the little man asked

Kate shook her head, and placed a hand on Aaron's back, "But he did ask me to tell you that he was defiantly going to your game tonight" She smiled

"and I'm going to have to make another appointment because we all need to sit down and talk about what happen with Will" She continued

Suddenly Aaron had an idea, His head popped up and the young boy smiled

"Why don't you come to my soccer game, you can talk to my dad and I can show how good I am "Aaron said happily

Kate knew it might not be a good idea, and she still had some work to do, but the look on that adorable little boys face was too much to say no and disappoint him, so she nodded "Yeah okay"

Later after Jack got home and picked up Aaron, they made their way to the soccer field.

A little more than 10 minutes into the game, Kate walked onto the field, looking for Aaron so he could point out exactly which one of these people was his fathers.

She's looking around at the little boys and girls running around kicking that black and white ball and before she knew it,

Black.

Her eyes fluttered open a few seconds later, and she realized she was lying on the picky grass of the field,

When her eyes finally focused on everything around her, they were looking directly into gorgeous brown orbs

"Excuse me, are you alright?" The voice asked her

She looked into those eyes until she found herself seeing the man they belonged too, he was tall or at least she thought considering she was on the ground, he also had short brown hair, his cheek was scruffy but just enough to say it was, realizing she wasn't only on the ground because she'd been hit with a soccer ball but now she was staring at the man trying to help her.

"Ummm yeah I'm okay, I'm fine" Kate blushed

Here let me help you up" The man offered his hand, she took it and as she stood up she felt slightly dizzy, taking a step forward she stumbled a little

"Are you sure you're alright?" She heard as she felt a gentle hand on her back steadying her

She let out a small giggle, Jack smiled and just than realized how stunningly beautiful this women was

They were both brought out of this moment, when a little voice was heard

"Miss Austen! You Came" Aaron jumped

'_Miss Austen' _Jack repeated the name in his head, Aaron's teacher, this is Aaron's teacher, well I can see why he likes to go to school now, and He smiled

Jack looked at Kate "You're Aaron's teacher?" He asked in a statement way

Kate smiled lightly "and you're his father"

Jack reached out his hand "I'm Jack "; Kate smiled and accepted his hand, as their skin touched it was soft and heated "Kate" She smiled

Kate then remembered why she was there, and looked down at Aaron

"I was hoping we could talk about what happen yesterday with Aaron" She told Jack

With a nod they made their way over to the bench, Aaron spoke up again "Miss Austen you're bleeding"

Kate touched her forehead "I'm bleeding?" she said, she hadn't noticed before

"Don't worry just a little "the boy said as if to comfort her, showing her just how much with a pinch of his fingers

Jack smiled at the little boy, and Kate laughed a little "Why don't you let me check that out"

Kate laughed and looked down "I'm fine really" Jack just ignored her and gently touched her cheek to get a better look, Kate instantly felt warmth spread through her body

"Well Kate in my professional opinion I think you'll live" He joked

Kate laughed "Yeah thanks"

Aaron came up with a band-aid "Here you go" he held it up to her

Realizing she'd have a hard time getting the band-aid on the cut Jack softly took it

"Here"

He placed the band-aid softly against her skin, and let his fingers linger there a little longer than necessary

Kate smiled with red cheeks "Thanks again"

With a nod he sat down beside her on the bench and Aaron went back to the game, watching the two adults talking and laughing, Jack and Kate started off talking about Aaron, and by the end of the game their wasn't a topic in this world they didn't cover.

**Better?**


	4. Dancing With Kids

It had been a week since Jack met Kate at the soccer field, all week he could not get her out of his head; it was like whatever he did made him think of her, he'd cook bacon and think about how she was a vegetarian, he'd get a patient with a concussion, Bam! There she was again, she could have had one if the ball had hit her hard enough. He knew he had to see her again.

Aaron came home from school on Monday and Jack was home to pick him up at the bus stop, and he'd be there all weekend too because he had it off, which Aaron was pretty happy about. The little blond haired boy walked in the house and threw his bag on the coach, plopping down with it, opening his bag to get a single piece of white paper, walking over to Jack, he handed it too him

"You're having a kindergarten dance?" Jack asked as he read the paper

Aaron nodded happily "Yup, I got a date too" he added and Jack's eyes popped open as he adjusted himself on the coach "A date?"

Nodding he told his dad "Her name is Madison" with a big smile on his face he continued "She's pretty" Jack ruffled the boys hair and smiled

Aaron pointed to the paper "Keep reading Daddy" Jack looked to the bottom of the page to where Aaron was pointing, it read_ Volunteers needed._

"We need someone to watch us, keep us safe, you're good at that" Aaron told his dad with a smile Jack smiled back touched by the little boys words but replied "I don't know buddy" rubbing the back of his neck uncertainly

Aaron only said "Miss Austen's going to be there" in a soft calming manner, Jack's head popped up at her name, he sat there thinking about it until he heard Aaron's stomach grumble

Picking him up and putting him on his shoulders he said "Okay let's go get some diner" and they flew into the kitchen.

* * *

After they ate, showered and Jack got Aaron into his pajamas, he read him a story and soon he was fast asleep. Walking downstairs, Jack's eye caught the single piece of paper from Aaron's school about the dance, so he wondered over too it.

Picking it up , he thought about it, maybe he would do it, it was on a Saturday so he wasn't working, it would make Aaron happy, he'd get to meet this Madison his little boy was talking about and he'd get to see Kate again which was defiantly a plus. Why shouldn't he do it, it would be good to get out even if it was with a bunch of little kids dancing around. Yeah…He'd do it, who knows it could even be fun, so he grabbed a pen and singed the sheet under the volunteer section and put it back in Aaron's backpack before grabbing some water and heading off to his room.

* * *

It was now Saturday around 3pm, the dance started at 5:30.

Aaron walked into Jack's room in a pair of boxers with superman on them and a pouting lip "Dad, what do you wear on a date?" He asked with his head down

Jack held back a laugh while looking at the little guy and simply said "whatever you want"

Aaron sighed "But I want her to like me"

Jack picked him up and sat him on the bed next to him "Well what does Madison like?" he asked and Aaron's eyes shot up "She loves white, everything white, snow, vanilla, marshmallows, everything" he said excitedly

Laughing he said "well do you have a white shirt?" without a answer Aaron jumped off the bed and ran to his room,

he came back minutes later with a pair a black pants and a plain the collared t-shirt "How do I look? He asked striking a pose

"You look great buddy" he smiled Aaron smoothed his shirt out "So you think she'll like me?"

Picking him up he said "You're a Sheppard, Your irresistible" causing the boy to laugh "That's what Grandpa says" he laughed and they made their way to the dance.

* * *

They arrived at the dance, Aaron by Jack's side and within 5 seconds of entering the school, Aaron took off with Will to find Madison, leaving Jack standing there alone, luckily for him only for about 5 minutes or so until a soft feminine voice came from behind him

"Hey, you came" Turning around to see Kate, he smiled "Yeah, glad I could help out"

They sat together for a while watching the kids dance, Jack glancing Aaron's way every once in a while to see him dancing around the floor, after a while Kate got up and went to go dance with all the girls in a circle,

As she sat back down she was faced with Jack who handed her a drink of the juice they had there, she accepted with a _thank you._ "So Kate is this how you spend every Saturday night?" Jack joked

Laughing she replied "What hanging out at a kids dance not you're typical Saturday night Jack?"

They both laughed and spend about another half hour together, watching, talking and laughing. It surprised Kate how easy it was to talk to Jack, like she'd known him her whole life. Knowing the dance was almost over, and this was probably the last song, it was a slow song, Jack took it as a sign he should ask her to dance.

"You know, I think that it's a shame the teacher isn't dancing" Jack said Kate smiled "What are you saying Jack?"

"You want to dance Kate?" he smiled holding out his hand to her, she smiled and accepted his hand, she loved the feeling right away, his palm was soft and gentle.

At the dance floor Kate kind of let her arms hang at her side, unsure of where to go next,

Jack just laughed and whispered in her ear "Generally, your arms wrapped around my neck" his soft breath on her skin made her shiver, and warmth spread through her body, shaking it off with a joke she said

"Sorry, I guess I'm used to dancing with 8 year olds" Wrapping her arms around his neck, he brought her closer by wrapping own arms around her waist, a little while into the song, she got more comfortable, enough so to rest her head on his shoulder.

The song was nearly over when Jack felt a tug at his pant leg, looking down he saw his little boy "Can I dance with Miss Austen daddy?" he asked

Smiling Kate thanked Jack and pick Aaron up grabbing his hand and danced with him slowly,

As Jack watched them Madison came up too him smiling, she was very cute little girl, with brown pig tails and blue eyes, wearing a little white dress, "Do you want to dance Aarons daddy?"

He smiled and he too picked her up twirling her around the dance floor while she giggled happily.

After all the kids had gone home, and they were just picking up Aaron was fast asleep on Jack's shoulder, as he walked towards Kate

"Thanks for your help Jack, and the dance" She said blushing a little He nodded "My pleasure, so I better get this little guy home"

He told her "Yeah, poor little man" They said goodbye and Jack started to leave, before turning around again; he had to make sure he could see her again.

"Uh, listen Kate, I was hoping maybe we could, umm go out for dinner sometime?" he said nervously Kate smiled,

she liked Jack but she was his sons teacher "Jack, I like you, I do but I'm Aarons teacher" he hesitated

Jack looked down at the sleeping boy "Oh, He's cool with it I asked him" Kate laughed and looked down at her shoes

"Just one dinner, and if you don't have a good time or it's too hard, I'll let it go" He continued

She lifted her head, biting her lip as if thinking about it

"Come on" Jack tried

She smiled and finally gave him a nod "Okay"

**tell me what ya think?**

**Next Chapter: The Date**


	5. Little towns,diners and swings

Margo agreed to watch Aaron while Jack went on his date with Kate, so now he was getting ready, standing in front of the mirror tucking his dress shirt into his slacks, he started to get nervous realizing he hadn't been on date in a long time...about 2 years.

_2 years_ he thought.

Glancing back at himself in the mirror, he started unbuttoning his shirt and putting another one on, he felt like a teenager repeating this process several times before he was satisfied and headed downstairs.

"You look nice dear" he was meet with the compliment from his mother

"Thanks" he smiled kissing her cheek "and thanks again for watching him tonight" motioning over to the young boy

Margo gave him a nod "Do you have everything?" she asked like he was still 10 years old

He took a deep breath, thinking about it, eyes widening as he murmured before heading upstairs, coming back down seconds later "My wallet" he told his mom while he tucked it into his back pocket, Margo just laughed shaking her head "I don't know why I'm so nervous" he laughed out

Touching his cheek "You're cute" his mother told him

Chuckling he made his way over to Aaron "Alright buddy, I'm going"

Aaron jumped up giving him a big hug "Good luck daddy" he said as he pulled back

"Oh and don't chew with your mouth open Miss Austen hates that" he added seriously

"Thanks buddy you saved my life" he laughed smiling Aaron replied "Once again" Jack laughed and ruffled his hair, giving him a kiss on the cheek

"Got everything now daddy?" the boy asked

Before Jack could answer the young boy continued "Wallet?" Seeing his dad nod he asked again "Keys?" Jack took him out and showed him he did have his keys, Satisfied Aaron returned the kiss on the cheek "Bye Daddy"

Walking to the door "Be good for grandma" he told him looking at his mom "Bye mom" he said before closing the door behind him.

* * *

When Jack got to Kate's house, he had to pumped himself up before knocking on her door. Finally knocking, it opened to someone who wasn't Kate.

"Umm" he smiled strangely until the women helped him out

"I'm Rebecca, Kate's friend" she offered looking him over she added "and _you _must be the dreamy doctor"

He laughed "I'm Jack" extending his hand which she accepted _dreamy doctor _he thought had Kate said that to her

"Kate will be down in a minute" She said watching him stand there with his hands buried deep in his pockets

He stayed like that until he heard footsteps, he looked up to see Kate. She was wearing a dark green dress that ended at her knees; her hair was down falling nicely to her shoulders with her bangs pinned back so he could see just how beautiful she really was.

"Wow" was what came out of his mouth

Kate laughed "Even the 8 year olds can come up with more syllables than that Jack" she teased him

He laughed "You look beautiful Kate" he smiled and she blushed looking over at Rebecca to try to hide it from him

"Okay, were going" She said

Her friend waved without turning around she said "Stay away from small spaces"

Kate and Jack clearly not getting the joke she began to explain "Dr. McDreamy likes small spaces" She winked over at them

Once again Kate blushed unable this time to hide; Jack got them out if the situation by saying "I don't have the hair to be that guy" he laughed running his hand over his head

They all laughed and Kate gently pushed him out the door, waving to Rebecca on the way out.

After being in the car for a while talking and laughing, they ran into a little problem.

It stopped.

Looking at the gage, he murmured under his breath _Gas_ he forgot gas.

Getting out of the car, Kate followed suit laughing, apparently finding this amusing

"What's so funny?" he said her laughter causing him to grin herself

She just continued to laugh "I was nervous okay?" he laughed a little too

Walking over to him she put her hand on his arm "It's okay" she smiled sweetly, their eyes locked and the mood became suddenly intense under their gaze, after minutes went by Jack realized her hand was still on his arm looking down at it he smiled and she quickly let her hand drop to her side.

Jack looked back up at her and started to laugh, she was right this was kind of funny, After they both had a good laughing fit, that they both needed he finally spoke "You know, there's a little town not too far from here" he said to her

The gorgeous brunette looked in his eyes urging him to keep going

"Well…It's a beautiful night; you want to walk with me?" He asked with a shy smile

Her own smile grew wider at how cute he looked all nervous "What about the car?" she asked

"If I remember correctly, this is my shot with you, I promised if you didn't have a good time tonight" he paused and decided not to finish just to simply say "I'm not going to let gas blow my shot" he finished sweetly

She laughed a little before taking a few steps ahead turning back to him to say "You coming or what?"

* * *

After walking in silence for a little while Kate came up with the idea to play 20 questions

"What's the one thing you've always wanted to do, but never got the chance?" Jack asked

Kate looked in his eyes "I've always wanted to be in more than one place at the same time" She told him with a sparkle in her eyes

After finishing their game, they arrived at a diner; they were both starving so they went in

"So I bet you didn't expect you'd be eating at a diner in the middle of nowhere tonight huh?" he joked when they were seated

Looking up at him, he got lost in her sea green eyes "I didn't come for the food" she replied and once again their eyes locked on each other, and she swore it got 10 degrees hotter in there

"What can I get you two?" The waitress broke apart their moment

After eating, they decided to head out and see what this little town had to offer, which was almost nothing.

They passed a school, a corner store and a worn down motel and they seen the whole town.

"JACK! Look" Kate said joyfully

He followed where her finger pointed "A park?"

"Come on" She laughed grasping his hand in hers and pulling him along with her to the swing set

She plopped down on the swing causing Jack to laugh at her childish behavior

"You're such a kid" he laughed teasingly

"Don't you remember that kid feeling Jack? The world was so safe, so free nothing could hurt you" She said to him

Jack stood there trying to figure out if their was a hidden message there somewhere

"Come on, Come swing with me" she said smiling

He shook his head and smiled "I'll push you tho"

He gently pushed her swing, each time his fingers softly touched the skin of her shoulders

As mush as Kate enjoyed the contact of his finger tips against her skin, the heat that came from them was starting to become more than she could handle "Come on Jack, swing with me, have some fun" She pushed

Realizing she wouldn't let him not swing before they left, he sat down on the swing next to her and smiled at her

Now that they were both swinging high enough, both keep stealing glances at one another and suddenly Kate got an idea "Let's jump" she said to him

"What?" he asked not sure if he heard her right

She smiled at him with a childish smile "Let's jump" he couldn't get over how beautiful she looked in the moonlight

He just laughed "Nooo way"

"Awww come on Jack, I'm taking a chance on you tonight, so let's take one together, take a chance with me" She said looking into his deep brown eyes as he nodded

She grabbed his hand in the middle of both their swings and laced her fingers between his

"1" she started to count "2" and she felt his grasp on her hand grow tighter, smiling she finished "3"

And they jumped. They took a chance on one another.

**tell me what you think?? Next Chapter: The date continues and ends, kiss? no kiss?**


	6. State Line

**thanks guys, new chapter, hope you like it**

Falling to the ground, Jack was surprised when seconds later he felt Kate had falling on top of him, her brown curls covering his chest and their still intertwined hands the only thing keeping her body from completely pressing into his.

Neither of them said anything for a little while, after a few minutes he felt her laughing so he decided to speak

"You alright" he asked smiling down at her

Lifting her head from his chest, her eyes locking with his, his smile grew wider when he saw the pure joy in her eyes, that kid happiness made her eyes seem even more of a beautiful green "Yeah, you kind of broke my fall" she laughed

"Too bad no one broke mine" he laughed moving around under her shaking off the pain in his back

"Awe my hero" she joked making a childish face

At that moment the both became aware of how close they were, and that their hands were the only thing keeping them apart, she blushed and rolled of him sitting on her knees in the sand

Sighing "Now I have sand in my hair, great ideas you have Kate"

"You're beautiful" he said staring directly at her with dreamy eyes, Kate felt her cheeks redden once again

* * *

Once they left the park, they luckily found gentlemen who gave them some gas to get home.

They got to Kate's place, and walking her to the door he was wondering if she had a good enough time to do it again, without the gas part. Kate knew she had a good time with him, and she knew he'd want to know that.

"So we should do this again soon right?" she hinted smiling

"Really? Even after the whole gas thing" He laughed jokingly but at the same time slightly shocked

Laughing "I'll remember gas next time" he chuckled

She took a step towards him looking down then back up to meet his eyes " I don't know, I think the whole running out of gas thing turned out to be pretty great" She laughed lightly seeing his mouth form a smile

"Yeah it did" He nodded

"I had a great time with you Jack, and I can see why Aaron thinks he's dad is so great" She told him her feelings pouring out of her

Jack smiled thanks, and sweetly said "Speaking of Aaron, I should really get home"

Kate smiled, knowing what usually happens at this part of the date.

But was surprised when she didn't feel his lips on hers, but instead on her skin, her forehead connected gently with his lips, his lips were soft and she didn't miss that he let them linger on there for longer then necessary, he slowly pulled away seeing that Kate still had her eyes closed

He smiled too "Goodnight Kate" he sweetly offered

Watching him leave she couldn't seem to find any words, she could still feel the moisture of his lips on her skin where they had just been, standing there feeling winded, she shook her head slightly, why was she feeling winded, unbelievable from just a simply kiss, and on her forehead at that

Minutes after she found that it wasn't the kiss at all, it was simply Jack, he didn't go in for the kill like most men would have, He was different and somehow that made a kiss on the forehead more intimate than the way it's usually done, it meant that he cared and that gave her hope.

* * *

Jack got home a little while later, his mother told him that Aaron was asleep upstairs, saying goodbye to his mom, he quietly went into the sleeping little boy's room. Kissing him on the forehead before heading back out, he was stopped by the door "Daddy?" his son said sheepishly

Walking back over to him, sitting on the bed "Hey buddy, I just wanted to say goodnight"

Aaron rubbed his eyes "How'd it go?" Jack smiled despite the little boys tiredness he still had a million questions

"It went good buddy, go back to bed okay, you have school tomorrow" he kissed his forehead

"Okay but one more question" he yawned "You keep your mouth closed when you were eating right?"

Jack laughed and nodded "Night Aaron" turning off the light and closing the door; he walked to his room and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The next day Kate was sitting at her desk, it was lunchtime and the kids were in the lunchroom before going to play outside for recess. Looking over some pictures a few students had given to her, she heard a voice at her classroom door "Excuse me, is this Miss Austen's room?"

She looked up, her eyes following the sound, she found the person behind the voice standing at her doorway and smiled "Jack?" she asked walking over to him

Wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug, his own wrapped around her "Well I'm happy to see you too" he laughed at her excitement

"I wasn't expecting to see you here, that's all" She said shyly and he smiled "Did you see Aaron yet?" she asked

"Yeah I seen him outside with a little girl" he smiled winking at her "But I'm actually here to see you"

"Me?" she smiled back tilting her hand a little throwing him a questioning look

"You. Does the teacher get a lunch break? He asked

"Yes she does, she gets about 40 minutes" her smile grew

"40 minutes huh? I think I can do that" he said grabbing her hand and leading her out the school

"Jack where we going? "She asked laughing as they reached the car

"I want to show you something" he replied simply

"Show me what, I have to be back here when class starts" she replied

He just laughed opening her door for her "Come on Kate, Take a chance with me" he told her, and she laughed thinking about how she'd asked him to do just that last night, so she got in the car. Jack went over to his side and sat down starting the car when he felt Kate's hand and his arm and looking over he saw that she had a big grin on her face "You have gas right?" she teased him, he laughed along and drove off.

About 15 minutes later, in the middle of the road Jack stopped the car

"What are you doing? Why you stopping?" Kate asked looking over to him

Without answering he got out, walked over to her said and opened her door "Were here" he extending his hand, she accepted letting him help her out of the car, and taking in her surroundings, there were trees and the rest of the road, Kate couldn't see why he'd want to show her this.

Where's here?" she asked him

Grabbing her hand again he led her over to the middle of the road, just ahead of the car, luckily they're weren't any cars driving by "This is the state line Kate" he told her

"Well that's great Jack, what are we doing here?" she laughed seeing his amused face

Letting go of her hand, to stand in front of her "Okay, put one foot there" he pointed to the left of where her body was "and the other foot right there" he pointed to the left of her

Standing there with her feet exactly like he'd told her wondering what he was making her do, she looked up from her feet and into his eyes, they were sparkling and he was smiling with his hands stuffed in his pockets, seeing her look at him he thought he better tell her why she was standing in the middle of the road with him

"You're in 2 places at once" he shrugged and smiled at her

Kate's smile grew wider when she realized that he was right, she really was. Tears started to form in her eyes when she thought back to the first person she told about wanting to be in 2 places at once, it was Tom, he'd always said it wasn't possible, and after he died Kate believed her being happy like that again wasn't possible, until Jack she started to think that maybe he could make both those things possible.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly "Thank you" she whispered in his shoulder, looking down at her he saw the water in her eyes, about to ask her what was wrong, he was interrupted by her lips pressed softly onto his, the kiss was short and sweet, almost ending as fast as it started, and it wasn't one of those big romantic kisses they'd both seen in the movies, the fact that it wasn't like that at all yet they both still felt like it had been, made them both start to believe in something again, they both started to believe in each other.

**So what did you think?let me know!**


	7. Backyard Football

Monday was the last time she'd seen Jack and it was now Saturday evening. She was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels too fast to see what was actually playing. "Kate what are you doing?" Rebecca asked

"Trying to find something to watch" She said flicking the button on the remote even faster now

Rebecca sat down beside her "Well you're not going to find something like that" she said taking the remote from her, Kate was about to protest but before she could her friend told her "Go see him Kate"

Kate shot her a confused look "What?"

"Jack just go see him if you want too" She stated like it was such an obvious solution

Kate got up and grabbed the phone, walking towards the kitchen as she left Rebecca sat on the couch smiling, shaking her head at her friend's behavior.

In the kitchen she pondered the idea of calling Jack for a little while before finally just doing it. Dialing the number she heard it ring twice before a soft little voice answered the phone "Hello"

"Hi Aaron" She smiled into the phone

"Who's this?" he asked

Laughing a little she replied "It's Kate"

"Who's Kate?" the little boys asked again, and Kate laughed at the million questions the little guy had, realizing he probably didn't know _Kate_ she replied again "It's Miss Austen"

"Hi Miss Austen!" Aaron said happily and then went silent "But I wasn't bad why you calling my daddy?" he asked, but before Kate could answer Jack came in and grabbed the phone, he'd heard Aaron from the kitchen scream her name so he figured he'd better go save her.

"Hey Kate" Jack said pressing the phone to his ear, an telling Aaron to go get ready, he walked back to the kitchen

"Hi Jack, I was uh just wondering what you're doing?" She asked and blushed feeling awkward

"Well right now I'm making popcorn" He laughed "Aaron wanted to watch land before time tonight"

"Oh that sounds fun" She chuckled and then the line was silent

"Listen Kate, do you want to uh come and watch it with us?" He asked "I know it's not the funest Saturday but…" he added right after until she cut him off

"I'd love to come watch it with you and Aaron" She smiled

* * *

Jack smiling on the other end was kind of shocked Kate wanted to spend her weekend watching kid's movies. "Ok, So I'll see you soon"

"See you soon Jack" She said before hanging up and driving over there.

Knocking on the door, Jack answered "Hey" he said greeting her with a quick kiss

"Miss Austen?" They turned around to see Aaron standing behind them "What are you doing here" he asked sweetly

"I came to watch land before time with you, is that okay?" She smiled at him

Smiling he nodded yes "But you'll still gonna watch it too right Daddy? You don't have to go work?" He asked sadly

Jack picked him up "I'm not going anywhere buddy" he told him and a big smile spread on his little face.

Aaron went to the kitchen to get the popcorn while Jack and Kate placed themselves on the sofa. Jack had his arm over Kate shoulder and she was leaning into him "Thanks for inviting me" She smiled at him

"Thanks for coming" He replied sweetly and she raised her hand to his hair running her fingers through it "You're hair grew" she stated

Jack chuckled "Kate it's only been four days since I seen you"

She moved closer to him, looking into his eyes "Well maybe I just missed you" she said before kissing him softly "I missed you too" he told her when they pulled apart, she leaned into him again but stopped when they heard Aaron coming into the room.

The little boy walked over to the sofa, and placed himself in the middle of Jack and Kate, wiggling his way in between them, and placing the popcorn on his lap. Jack looked over at Kate giving her an apologetic smile and she mouthed _'It's okay'_, she actually thought it was nice that Aaron didn't want to share his daddy tonight.

About 45 minutes into the movie Aaron was fast asleep on with his head resting on Jack's lap and his little legs curled up on Kate's lap. Picking him up carefully not to wake him Jack told Kate he was going to bring him upstairs.

Coming back down a few minutes later he saw that Kate had taken his sweatshirt from the chair and was fast asleep on the sofa using the sweater as a pillow, he smiled at how cute she looked all cuddled up on his sofa. He thought about waking her but she looked like she needed the rest, so he grabbed a small blanket from the back of the sofa and gently placed it on her, removing a curl from her face, he kissed her forehead softly "Goodnight Kate"

* * *

Kate awoke the next morning, rubbing the sleep from her eyes; she smiled remembering where she was. And looked down at the blanket on her smiling again she thought _Jack _must have done that. Speaking of Jack, the house was really quiet could they still be sleeping? No she thought Aaron's a little boy they don't sleep in right? She sat there wondering before getting up and waking passed the screen door leading to the back yard she saw them

They were shooting a little blue foam football back and forth before Jack picked Aaron up and raised him above his head; Kate opened the door to hear Aaron giggling "Super man!"

They turned around to see Kate and Jack let Aaron back down to the ground.

"Morning" Jack said and she smiled walking up to him placing a kiss on his cheek "What are you two doing out here?"

"We're playing football!" Aaron jumped up excitedly

"Wanna play Miss Austen" he asked smiling at her with the little football in his hands

She nodded looking at Jack "Sure"

Aaron ran up to her , grabbing her hand and pulling her over to where he had been standing "Great, You're on my team, and daddy's alone cause he's big" The cute little boy explained to her

Shooting the ball to her and her shooting it back to Aaron for a little while Jack not touching the ball. Kate went next to where Jack was standing and poking Aaron in the side, and the little boy laughing cause it tickled, Kate shot Aaron the ball, But his laughter made him miss it and Jack picked it up walking over to Kate and Aaron imaginary touchdown line and dropping the ball, Aaron running to follow him along with Kate.

"Hey no fair" Aaron shouted through his laughter and tackled his daddy, Jack purposely fell to the ground Aaron sitting on top of him, laughing into his chest. Kate walked over laughing at the two of them. "What are you laughing at?" Jack asked before pulling her down with them. They all layed there on the ground together smiling and laughing.

And they spent the rest of the afternoon, playing backyard football together.

**So what do you think? let me know:)**


	8. Salads and Water

It had been a month now since Jack and Kate started dating. They were sitting on her couch just talking and waiting for the food that they ordered.

"You know I like having my own place" Kate said out of nowhere, she had her elbow resting on the couch and holding her head up, and her legs tucked under her, looking at Jack

Jack looked at her and chuckled "It's true you know when I was a kid I didn't think I would because you had to cook and clean" She continued "But now I like it, I got a great apartment, great roommate, a great guy sitting on my couch I can have whenever I want" She said moving closer to him

He laughed again, shaking his head "You make me laugh" he told her

Poking his shoulder she said "You're just jealous" she laughed

"Me? Jealous? Why would I be, I get to come to this great apartment whenever I want and you have to pay the rent" He said to her, using her own words from a few seconds ago.

She opened her mouth, trying to look shocked, Jack chuckled and she jumped on his lap, he brought his knees up, making her move closer to him "That's it your share of dinner just went up" she said reaching for the back pocket on his jeans, he wrapped his arms around her, fumbling to grab her hand that was reaching in his pocket "Oh _no_, dinner was on you" He joked and they both laughed swaying together all tangled up on the sofa.

* * *

Now Jack was working standing in the hallways of St. Sebastian looking at a chart. He felt two small hands come up and cover his eyes. "Guess who?"

Grabbing her hands in his and turning around, it was Kate. "Hey" She smiled shyly

"Hey" Wrapping his arms around her "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

"I'm here with Rebecca, she's stalking one of the doctors" She laughed "So I thought I'd come along to find you" She explained kissing him quickly

"You look good in your white coat Doctor Sheppard" She winked at him, her arms wrapped around his neck

"Jack!" They heard someone call for him; a blonde headed man walked up to them and gave Jack one of those man hugs, where they pat each other on the back.

"Kate, this is Mark, Mark this is Kate" Jack introduced them

Shaking her hand "So this is Kate" Mark asked "I've heard a lot about you" He said looking from Jack back at Kate, Kate blushed

"Are you coming tonight?" He asked her, Kate gave him a confused smiled

Jack chuckled "I didn't get a chance to ask her yet"

Shaking his head, he told Kate "Get used to that, Jack's always been a little slow" The three all laughed

"Mark is having a little barbeque at his place tonight" Jack explained

"Yeah, and my wife will be there so you won't have to spend all night with boring old guys" Mark cut in causing Kate too laugh

"So?" Jack asked, and Kate gave him a grin "I didn't hear a question?" She shrugged teasing him

Chuckling he replied "Do you want to go with me Kate?"

Smiling "Yeah I'd love to go"

"Um Jack before I forget, I came over here to get you for a consult" Mark told Jack handing him a file

With that Mark decided he'd leave them alone for a while "Jack I'll see in there, and It was nice meeting you Kate, I'll see you tonight" Then he left

Giving him a quick kiss "You better go" She said

"You know, this consult will only take a few minutes and then my shifts over" He told her "And I promised Mark's wife that I'd bring some kind of salad, potato or something, not that I have any idea how to make salad" He continued laughing

"So if you want you could wait, and help me out with that" He asked nervously "I mean if you want to"

"I want to, I'll just go find Rebecca let her now, and I'll meet you back here" She told him

"Okay" He nodded Lifting the file in his hand "Well I better go" , Agreeing Kate snuck one last kiss before they both turned separate ways

* * *

After Jack finished his consult, He met Kate by the main desk of the hospital.

"Ready to go?" He asked her. Grabbing his hand with hers she nodded. Walking to the door to leave they heard Jack's name being called again, stopping to turn around, Kate saw another doctor this one had blue eyes and grayish hair

"What's going on dad?" Jack asked

"Well I heard that this lovely lady was in the hospital, and I wondered why I haven't met her yet." He said looking at Kate

"Hi Mister Sheppard" She smiled shaking his hand

"Kate right?" She nodded "It's nice to finally meet you"

"You too" She smiled, she felt Jack's grip on her hand get tighter as soon as the older man appeared

"Look dad, we really have to go, so if there's nothing else" Jack cut in

Christian smiled and nodded, waving goodbye as the pair excited the hospital.

* * *

At Jack's place now "What was that back there?" She asked

Giving her a questioning look she continued "With your dad, you just wanted to get out of there"

"I work in that hospital all day, I wanted to come home" He told her

Shaking her head "No I think it was more than that", walking closer to him, putting her hand on his that was resting on the counter, "Talk to me" she said gently rubbing her thumb over his hand

Looking in her eyes "I didn't want him to judge you"

Kate gave him a sympatic but confused look

"That's what he does Kate, nothing in my life is ever good enough for him, he judges everything and picks it apart" He told her looking into her eyes, she could see the pain in his brown orbs

"I just didn't want him to do that to you" he smiled at her "I like you Kate and I don't care what he thinks"

She returned the smile, deciding that answer was good enough for her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes before softly kissing his lips "I like you too Jack" she beamed at him after pulling away

Standing there arms wrapped around each other's bodies "Do you think you could wait for Aaron, He's with a friend right now but he should be here any minute, and I need to go shower before the barbeque"

Kissing him Jack made his way out of the kitchen before turning back "and Kate" She turned to look at him "Thanks" They gave each other a smile before Jack went upstairs to take a shower

After he was clean and dressed in beige cargo shorts and a black t-shirt, he went downstairs. When he got there he saw that Aaron was home, he was sitting at the counter showing Kate the picture he made of the three of them playing football in the backyard.

"Hey buddy" Jack said walking in

Aaron jumped off the chair and ran towards him, wrapping his little arms around Jack's neck "Hey Daddy"

Jack picked him up "How was Will's? Did you have fun?"

Aaron nodded yes "But I'm glad I'm home" He said kissing Jack on the cheek "Me too Buddy"

Kate couldn't help but smile while watching the two of them; Aaron was so attached to Jack.

"Okay Sport, were going to go see Lucas soon, so if you want to bring something go get it now alright?"

Aaron clapped happily running up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Dad, can I bring my swimming stuff?" He yelled from the top of the stairs, Jack said yes and then saw that Kate was looking at him needing an explanation

"Mark and Cindy have a pool" He said, Kate nodded

While Jack had been in the shower, Kate started the salads, they made two kinds and everyone piled into the car, then they were off to the barbeque.

* * *

Arriving they were greeted with Mark and his wife Cindy.

"Good to see you Jack" Cindy said kissing him on the cheek, than she turned to Kate "We haven't meet yet, I'm Cindy"

"Kate" She smiled

"Uncle Jack!" They heard a little voice scream, and a little dirty-blonde headed boy came running towards them, wrapping his arms around Jack, Kate guessed that this was Lucas.

"Uncle Jack come play?" He asked

Cindy got Kate's attention "Kate you want to help me in the kitchen" Kate nodded smiling

"Jack I'm stealing your date, you boys go watch the kids outside" Cindy laughed

They did as they were told.

After the ate, Kate and Cindy were sitting on the porch talking and Jack and Mark were standing by the pool, watching the kids and having a beer.

"Daddy, I wanna fly" Aaron said holding out his arms; Jack picked him up and counted to five, "Ready?" He asked and the little boy nodded, Jack gently tossed him into the pool, resurfacing you could hear Aaron's giggle from the porch.

Kate and Cindy walked over to them. Wrapping his arms around his waist "Aaron really loves the water huh?" She asked Jack looking at the two little boys splashing in the water.

Jack nodded, and then a big bundle of water came up from the pool, and slashed Jack, luckily Kate saw it and backed off before she could get wet.

Aaron and Lucas were laughing at Jack, saying 'got you'. Kate walked back to Jack, with her hand on her mouth, laughing

"You think this is funny?" Jack asked barely able to contain his own laughter

Kate nodded "I think this is very funny" She said laughing harder

Before she could run, she felt Jack's arms snake around her waist, and pull her towards the pool

"Jaaacccckkkk don't" She screamed before they both hit the water of the pool. They came up laughing with Jack's arms still hooked around her waist, both soaked; she splashed him by hitting her arms against the water.

Mark and Cindy watched them together and Mark smiled "I like her, Kate, She's good for him" He told his wife "Don't you think?"

Cindy wrapped he arms around his waist "I think that this is the happiest I've ever seen Jack, he deserves this" She smiled and they kept watching the four in the pool, they knew that Kate was probably going to be around for a while.

**What do you think? Let me know:)**


	9. The Women With You

**Hey Guys, This Chapter was named after the song The Women With You-Kenny Chesney :)**

Kate was sitting on Jack's couch waiting for Jack to come back from picking Aaron up at his parents' house. A few minutes later she heard them both come in the door.

"Hi Aaron" Kate smiled and waved

Aaron waved back at her and then looked up at Jack "Daddy can I talk to you?" He asked

Jack looked surprised but nodding along, walking with the little guy to the stairs. Sitting down on the top step where Aaron knew no one could hear, he patted the spot next to him, making Jack sit down next to him.

Jack sat there looking at his son with his hands on his knees and his head tilted to see him, he saw that Aaron was copying the exact position on the step. "What's going on Buddy?"

Aaron looked up "Well, promise you won't get mad?" he asked looking at Jack with big blue eyes, Jack felt a sharp pain hearing that, why would he think he'd be mad.

Touching the little boys hand gently "Hey look at me, you can tell me anything" Aaron looked up at him "And if something's wrong I want to know okay?"

Aaron nodded "It's about you and Miss Austen" he spoke nervously

"Me and Kate?" he asked and his son gave a little nod "Okay, what is it?"

The boy hesitated before replying "Well I dunno how ...If I like you two being together" He said not knowing what to say that would mean they were dating. The boy knew he wanted them to meet but now he wasn't so sure.

"Oh" Jack said quietly looking at his little boy

"It's just she's my teacher daddy" he said bring his top lip up showing he thought it was weird

Jack couldn't help himself from smiling a little before drawing in a deep breath. He put his hand on the back of Aaron head and told him sincerely "Listen buddy, you are the most important thing to me, so if you have a problem with me and Kate than you tell me and I'll stop" He finished kissing the side of his head. He didn't want to stop seeing Kate but if it was going to hurt Aaron he would have no choice.

Aaron looked down at his hands and back up at Jack "But you know I really like her Sport, A lot"

Aaron nodded "She makes you laugh huh?" he asked, it was his way of asking if Kate made him happy.

Jack smiled "Yeah Buddy she does" Aaron got up from the step and wrapped his little arms around Jack's neck, Jack felt his strings tug and wrapped his own arms around the little guys form. They stayed like that for a little while until he felt Aaron pull away "Then I'm okay with it Daddy" he said giving him a kiss "I love you Daddy" he said before telling him he was going in his room to play with his games.

Going back downstairs to Kate, Jack felt a lot better about their relationship because he'd been wondering how Aaron was feeling about this all happening and even tho he didn't need his father's approval, he did need Aaron's.

"Hey sorry about that" he said from behind the couch, walking over he lifted her feet off the couch, sat down and laid her feet on his lap, When Kate looked at him she could see in his eyes that talk with Aaron was important.

Bringing the top of her body up to him, touching his shoulder "Hey, Is everything okay?"

He smiled at her nodding, "Everything's fine" He said kissing her forehead

Smiling "Good, so I've got to ask you something" She said, looking nervous Jack replied "Shoot"

"I met your friends so I think now you have to meet mine" She laughed

"I met Rebecca" He stated in his defense, She laughed and slapped his shoulder

"Yeah but the rest of them are starting to think that I've made you up, my sweet, dreamy doctor boyfriend" Jack laughed at her description of him, but liked the last part about being her boyfriend.

"We are meeting at Rachel's Dinner at 7, and it would really mean a lot to me if you'd come" She told him sweetly, he was looking at her smiling that sweet little smile and with a sigh "Has anyone ever said no to you?" He joked; Kate clapped once and leaned in to give him a kiss.

* * *

Kate and her friends were sitting at the dinner, at a table in the back when Jack walked in, looking around until he found them.

"Hey" He said once he reached them, kissing Kate before sitting down next to her, as she introduced him to her friends

"Okay turns him around" Shannon, Kate's blonde headed not afraid to say anything friend said

Kate laughed and put her hands on Jack's shoulders "What are you doing?" Jack asked half grinning

"This is tradition, Every time one of us gets a boyfriend, they have to pass this test" Kate shrugged

Jack looked nervous now, what was this test, and would he pass? God why did he agree to this?

"So? you can't change tradition Jack" Shannon said laughing "Stand up"

He stood up with his hands buried in the pockets of his blue jeans. Raising his eyebrows to question them.

"Now turn around" Shannon said

Jack gave her a doughtful look "Come on Jack, Take a chance" Kate said bringing back the words she used on their first date and the ones he used when he brought her to the state line.

Looking at her first and then turning around he heard them all talking

"Yes, I think he defiantly passes the test" Shannon said

"High score" Rebecca added

It was then that he realized what the test was, and turned around to sit back down. Shaking his head laughing, Kate kissed him and rested her head on his shoulder.

After talking a little while longer, Jack told them he was going to grab a coffee, asking if anyone wanted anything before he left.

"So what do you guys really think?" Kate asked smiling at her friends

"I think he seems like a great guy" Shannon said seriously

"And a doctor, which is very nice" Rebecca added winking at Kate

"Another plus is he is not bad to look at either" Shannon said returning to her normal self

They all laughed "Yeah he's great, and it means a lot that you guys like him too" They all nodded giving their approval.

"I was wanted the prince charming to just walk up, kiss me and we lived happily ever after, every girl does right?" She said blushing and her friends smiled nodding they agreed

"Will you settle for a spinal surgeon?" They heard from behind them, turning around to see Jack, he smiled at Kate walked up and kissed her, slow and steady but eventually both becoming consumed by the kiss and forgetting that anyone else was there.

Pulling apart "I don't think that's settling at all" She smiled up at him, arms wrapped around each other, he leaned down to kiss her again.

After they all ate and talked a little more, they said their goodbyes. Jack offered Kate a ride home since she came with Rebecca.

In the car, Jack had one hand on the steering wheel, and the other was intertwined with Kate's resting in between the two seats.

"Thanks for coming tonight Jack" She said

"Yeah, It was fun" He smiled back

"So Aaron's at my parent's place tonight, it's still early you want to come over for a bit?" He asked her sweetly

Leaning over to kiss his cheek she smiled "I'd love too"

* * *

They arrived at Jack's place; they cuddled on the couch together and watched a movie just enjoying each other's company. It was getting pretty late now so Kate lifted her head off Jack's chest and spoke

"It's getting late" She said rubbing her eyes; he nodded walking over to the stairs.

Before she could grab her jacket she felt Jack's hand grab her arms gently "Kate" She turned herself towards him, the hold he had on her arm bringing them close to one another, they got caught in the gaze being held by their eyes, and no one said anything for a little while until Jack finally spoke

"Stay" One simple word was what came out of his mouth, but for Kate that simple word had a big definition

Looking in his eyes she saw tenderness and care, she smiled at him "Jack, I really like you and I don't want to mess it up and every other relationship I've had had been…" She trialed off

Jack's hands came to rest on her shoulders "Kate, we don't have to….to do anything" He said "We can just sleep"

"You'd be okay with that?" She asked surprised

He nodded "I just don't want you to go" He told her wrapping his arms around her, letting her know that he simply wanted to be with her

"And waiting for…that's okay with you" She said into his chest, looking in her green eyes he nodded "I'll wait for you to be ready" H gently kissed her lips

"So?" He asked, hands in his pockets again, something he did when he was nervous

Grabbing his hand "Let's go to sleep" She answered pulling him up the stairs

Lying in bed together under the covers, Jack lied on his back one arm popping his head up and the other around Kate's waist, Kate lied on Jack's chest arms snaking around his body. Jack's hand moved to Kate's hair gently playing in the brown curls, Kate shifted closer to him "You're going to make me fall asleep"

He just smiled at her and she continued "When I was little the only way to get me to fall asleep at night was to play with my hair" She smiled back at him

It was silent for a bit after that "This is nice" Jack said pointing between the two of them cuddled up in each other

She nodded into his chest, talking into it "I'm so many things all day, I'm a teacher, a friend, a roommate, a chef and a maid when it comes to my apartment" She paused

Looking into his eyes now, she lifted her head from his chest "It's nice to just be the women with you"

Leaning in to kiss her in a sweet meaningful kiss, they stopped before it got out of hand and quietly talked to each other before gently falling asleep to the sound of each other's voice.

**Tell me what you think? More reviews faster updates :)......& I used the butt thing from Grey's Anatomy because that is just genius right?...lol:P**


	10. Stealing Cinderella

_-baby you always stop singin'_

_when I walk into the room_

_and just the other night_

_why did you stop dancing_

_when I caught you in the kitchen with the broom_

Jack awoke the next morning to find that there was a curled up blanket where Kate was supposed to be. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and his legs out of the bed it suddenly hit him,_ Did she leave?_ No she wouldn't just leave. Shaking the thought from his head, he walked downstairs. About half way down he could hear Billy Joel filling his house from the kitchen, taking a few more steps he could now hear that Kate was singing too

Walking down the last steps, he stood quietly at the doorframe leading into the kitchen, smiling to himself when the chorus came again, Kate's hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she had his shirt on which cut off at a perfect length showing off her legs.

Kate now had a hold on the broom swinging it around and bopping her head, singing _only the good die young_.

Jack couldn't help but let out a chuckle at her causing her to turn around, seeing Jack standing there leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning at her, she stopped singing and felt the red rise to her cheeks.

"Why'd you stop?" He asked walking up to her, laughing

She ducked her head, "Why do you do that?" He chuckled, as her head came up again giving him a weird look he continued "Duck your head"

"Cause I'm blushing" She told him bringing her hand to her cheek

"So?" He said wrapping his arms around her from behind "You look cute with your cheeks are red"

"You know you're a cover stealer" He told her and she raised an eyebrow at him

"I am not!" She said offended

They both laughed and satisfied he got her blushing this early in the morning, he changed the subject. Finally noticing the counter was filled with bowls and spoons.

"What are doing?" He asked

"Well I thought it would be nice to make you and Aaron breakfast" She said happily

"Well thank you" He said kissing her

"Your welcome, but see I don't really know where anything is, so" She stated

"So you decided while you were waiting you'd dance with my broom" He said shrugging his shoulders, she slapped his shoulder and he started laughing soon joined by her

"Ok I'll stop" He finished

A little while later they heard little footsteps coming down the stairs and soon Aaron emerged from the hallway, seeing Kate he raised his eyebrow and looked over at Jack, remembering their conversation the little guy just shrugged "Morning Daddy"

"Morning Buddy, You hungry?" He replied

Aaron nodded "Morning Miss Austen"

"Good morning Aaron" Kate said then looking over at Jack, who seemed happy that Aaron was adjusting to this new person in their lives.

"Aaron can you help me?" Kate asked moistening for him to come see her, She knew Jack was worried about how Aaron felt about all this so she was trying to include him as much as possible

Picking him up and sitting him on the counter, she leaned in to whisper in his ear "I need your help to make breakfast for your daddy; you think you could help me?"

Aaron smiled he liked surprising his daddy, he nodded happily. Looking over at Jack "Daddy go, it's a surprise" he said to him laughing and pointing towards the other room

Laughing Jack stood, knowing that Aaron would tell Kate to make pancakes because he loved them as much as Jack did; he leaned in and whispered in Kate's ear "Make sure you put chocolate chips in Aaron's, he loves them" Kate looked at him kissing his cheek in thanks.

"Daaaaaadddyyyy" Aaron whined

"Okay, Okay I'll go take a shower, will it be ready by then?" He asked

Aaron nodded flinging his hands telling him to go. Jack laughed happy Aaron wanted to do this with Kate.

* * *

In the kitchen, Kate and Aaron were having fun together.

"Ok we need butter" Kate said and Aaron sitting on the counter pointed to the fridge "Fridge" He told her and she would walk over a get it, scooping the amount they need and giving the spoon to Aaron so he could put it in. They continued like this until they had the pancake mix ready.

Kate poured the mix in the pan, remembering what Jack said, she looked over at Aaron "You know what I love on pancakes?"

Aaron shook his head "Chocolate chips" She replied seeing Aaron's face light up with a big smile "Me too!"

"They are in there" He said pointing to them, grabbing them Kate took some and let him take some, shouting them into the pancakes.

Aaron helped her set the table, and they heard Jack coming down the stairs "Can I come in now?" He checked

"Come in Daddy" He heard Aaron say

When he walked in Aaron ran up to him "Daddy Miss Austen likes chocolate chips too" he told him amazed

"She does huh?" He said looking over at Kate smiling

They sat at the table together eating, Aaron telling Jack about how he helped Kate make the pancakes.

"We make a good team don't we Aaron" She said

Nodding his head, chewing his pancake he added "We're like Batman and Robin"

Jack and Kate laughed and Kate felt Jack grab her hand under the table, resting it on his knee.

* * *

About a week later, Kate told Jack that her parents wanted to meet him, well mostly her dad which made him even more nervous.

_I came to see her daddy for sit down man to man_

_It wasn't any secret I'd be asking for her hand_

Pulling into the driveway, they had a nice house, it wasn't as big as the one he's parents have but that made him feel more relaxed, it had an old style feel to it, but seeing as Kate came from Iowa that made sense.

"You ready?" Kate asked taking her seatbelt off

"No" He said bluntly causing her to laugh, grabbing his hand rubbing the top with her thumb "You'll be great"

Taking a breath and walking up to the house, with their hands still linked together.

Sandy blonde haired women answered the door "Hey mom" Kate said hugging the women, pulling away she looked over to Jack "You must be Jack" She smiled at him

"It's nice to meet you Miss Austen" He smiled at her

Waving she replied "Call me Diane" Surprising Jack a little when she gave him a hug too, but he gladly returned it

"Where's Daddy?" Kate asked

"Oh he's in the back" Her mom told her

Walking through the house to the backyard Jack saw a man with almost no hair and the little he had was grey, with sea green eyes just like Kate's.

"Honey, Katie's here" Her mom let him know

Walking over to them he kissed Kate on the cheek, and stood in front of Jack, just staring at him

"How you doing son?" He finally said

Jack shook his hand "Good sir, How about you?"

"I'm alright, you want to join me in the living room to have a talk" The older man asked with his voice not really wanting an answer

Jack smiled nodding, and swallowing hard, Kate saw this and squeezed his hand tighter.

"Meet me in there son, I'd like to talk to my daughter" He told Jack, Who looked at Kate and faked smiled, she leaned up to kiss him sweetly before he left

Kate and her parents talked in the hallway, while Jack looked for the living room.

_I guess that's why he left me waiting in the living room by myself_

_With at least a dozen pictures of her sitting on a shelf_

Jack looked around the living room; there were awards all over for _Sergeant Austen_, Great Jack thought she couldn't tell me her dad was a Sergeant, he was now ten times more nervous. Walking to the other wall he saw that there were a bunch of pictures of Kate when she was younger.

_She was playing Cinderella_

_She was riding her first bike_

The first picture he saw was of a little Kate maybe 4 years old, she was sitting on the dirt road, her bike behind her and a band-aid on her knee, she had tear stained face but was standing up with her arms in the air to show she was tough. Jack chuckled same ole Kate.

Taking a step to see another one

_Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight_

This one had Kate as a baby, her dad was holding her up in the air over the bed, and you could tell that she was laughing; Jack smiled at the memory of doing this with Aaron, it made him feel like he was doing alright as a dad.

_Running through the sprinkler with a big Popsicle grin_

_Dancing with her dad, looking up at him_

Kate was sitting in a tree in this one eating an ice cream cone, she couldn't have been more than 8 years old, Aaron's age, her ice cream was all over her face and she was smiling, Jack liked this one because you could see her little freckles clearly.

_In her eyes I'm Prince Charming_

_But to him I'm just some fella_

_Riding in and stealing Cinderella_

Looking at these pictures he thought about her dad, and about who he would feel, Kate was only daughter and he didn't want to lose her.

Leaning into the next picture, to get a closer look at what she was doing in this one. He heard someone come in the room.

_I leaned in towards those pictures to get a better look at one_

_When I heard a voice behind me say "Now, ain't she something, son?"_

"She really is something else huh Son?" The man asked

_I said "Yes, she quite a woman" and he just stared at me_

Jack smiled at him, turning towards him and away from the pictures "Yes, She's an amazing women Sir"

Looking into his eyes Jack realized that in her father's mind she was always going to be that little 8 year old princess, so he had to know that the guy that was her prince was going to take care of her.

_Then I realized that in his eyes she would always be_

"I'm not going to hurt your daughter Sir, I care about her too much" Jack told him honestly

The older man looked at him for a while, as if studying him. After a while he stuck out his hand for Jack to shake "Call me Sam"

Slapping Jack on the shoulder "I believe you care about her, and from what I've heard she cares about you too, But I'm warning you don't let her down" He said with his hand on Jack's shoulder

"I won't" Jack looked him in the eyes and said sincerely

_He slapped me on the shoulder_

_Then he called her in the room_

"Katie, come on in here" He called

Kate came in smiling and wrapping her arms around her dad as tight as she could. He was always there for her which is something she couldn't say for everyone. Jack watched them together and even thought they didn't have the house that Jack grew up in, they had something better, Love. He stood there thinking about Aaron, and he hoped that he would feel that way about him, the way Kate feels about her dad.

_When she threw her arms around him_

_That's when I could see it too_

"So how did it go?" Kate asked walking over to Jack wrapping her arms around him and then looked over to her dad

"I think you got a good one Katie" Her dad said

Kate reached up to kiss Jack's cheek "Me too Daddy"

_If he gives me a hard time_

_I can't blame him for that_

_I'm the one who's stealing Cinderella_

**Let Me Know What You Think? Next Chapter: Meeting the parents continues & Aaron comes :)...More Reviews=Faster Update :D**


	11. Fishing & Worms

Jack and Kate were outside with her parents, they were talking, asking Jack about himself.

"You have a son?" Diane asked

"Mom I told you that, his one of my students" Kate said with a little laugh

"Why didn't you bring him? What's his name?" Her dad Sam asked

"Uhm his with my parents and his name is Aaron" Jack replied and felt Kate rest her head on his shoulder

"Well why don't you go get him, I love to meet the little guy" Her mom said and Kate smiled knowing how much her mom loved little kids.

Jack smiled "Uh Okay" He replied happy with the way her parents took him having a child, He got up and let them know he'd go give his dad a call

Back in the house, he flipped his cell phone and dialed his dad's number

"Hey dad" He said when he heard someone pick up the other end

"Hi Jack, Where are you?" He asked

"I'm still at Kate's parents house, Listen could you put Aaron on the phone" He asked and waited for the little voice to come on the line

"Hey Daddy" He heard a few seconds later

"Hey Buddy, You having fun with Grandpa and Grandma?"

"Yup, Grandpa got me a train, we built it ourselves Daddy" He told his dad excited

Jack chuckled "That's awesome Buddy, I got something to ask you"

The boy didn't say anything just waited for his dad to keep going, so he did "I'm at Kate's parent's house"

"Miss Austen had parents?" The boy interrupted confused

Jack laughed rubbing his hand over his hair "Of course she does, everyone does"

"Even Principal Gibson?" He asked getting off track

"Yeah Buddy, Everyone, Listen I was wondering if maybe you wanted to take a break from the train for a while, and come see us" He asked him, somehow feeling nervous of the little boy's response

"Okay Daddy" He said and Jack let out the breath he was holding "Okay, put Grandpa back on okay"

"Okay, see you soon, Love you Daddy" He said before passing the phone to the older man

"What's going on Jack?" His father asked

"Can you bring Aaron over here for me?" He asked knowing it was kind of out of their way

Sighing loudly before replying sure and getting the address from Jack. He went back to Kate and her parents in the backyard.

"My dad's going to bring him over" He told them

Diana smiled "Great, I'd love to meet your father also" She stated

Jack looked at Kate and swallowed hard, nervous about Diane's statement, Kate gripped his hand knowing that the relationship between him and his father wasn't the greatest.

* * *

Awhile later they heard someone ringing the doorbell; Diana went to answer the door

"You must be Christian" She said seeing a older man standing at the door, bending down to the little blonde haired boy's level "And you must be Aaron" She said

Aaron nodded "You're Miss Austen's Mom?" He asked her tilting his head in confusing

Diane laughed "That's right, Your Daddy is in the back" She said pointing to the screen door

"I better get going" Christian turned to leave

"Actually we were hoping you'd join us" She said stopping him, when it looked like he was about to protest "We're having burgers" She smiled at him, he nodded and walked inside with her

In the backyard Jack was talking baseball with Sam when they heard someone yell

"Daddy!" Aaron squealed running towards Jack, Jack picking him up when the little guy reached him

"Looks like someone missed his Dad" Sam said looking at the pair

Jack smiled readjusting Aaron on his hip "Can you say hi Aaron"

Aaron snuggled deeper into Jack, looking over at Sam unsure of the man in front of him

Sam smiled "Hey Aaron, Do you like fishing?" He asked

Aaron let go of the grip he had on Jack and raised his head from Jack's chest, and nodded slowly

"You want to come with me?" He asked pointing over to the dock just down the hill, showing the little guy he wouldn't be far from his dad

Aaron looked at Jack and he nodded, He let him down and Aaron walked slowly over to Sam holding his hand out for the older man to grab before they walked down to the dock

Jack and Kate watched them walk down, and Kate rested her head on Jack's shoulder smiling at him, he returned her smile and kissed her softly, both happy this visit was going so well, until Jack heard voices coming from behind them

"Hey Jack, look who decided to join us" Diane said to him, turning around to see his father

"Hi dad" He told him in a monotone voice

* * *

While Jack, Kate, Dian and Christian talked in the backyard, Aaron and Sam were getting ready on the dock

"Have you ever been fishing before Aaron" Sam asked and the boy shook his head

"Well this is going to fun then, your first time" He said to him watching the boy look over the fishing pole

"How do you catch fish with this?" He asked

Sam chuckled "You use a worm, you put it on the end there" He told him pointing to the hook

The boy's big blue eyes opened wide "A Worm!" He asked excitedly and Sam nodded pulling a worm out of the bucket

"Cool!" Aaron screamed clapping his hands and almost losing his pole

Sam laughed at how excited the little guy was, it reminded him of the first time he took Kate fishing, Putting it on the hook, and one on his

"Now we just wait" He said once in the water

Aaron sat down beside him letting his little feet dangle off the edge of the dock

* * *

Meanwhile Christian had excused himself to go get a drink in the house, Jack followed suit

"Why did you stay dad?" He asked from behind him

"I was asked to Jack, and I wanted to get to know this girl of yours"

Jack walked into the kitchen and rested his palms on the counter looking over knowing his father would have more to say

"She's a nice girl Jack" He said "But her parent's, her mom works in a diner" He said coldly

"So what dad?" He shot back just as cold

"So that is where Kate came from" He told his son

Jack laughed bitterly shaking his head " I don't know why the hell I even wanted to know what you thought, I should have known no one is as good as you right dad" He said his voice getting louder

"Jack, I'm just trying to look out for you" He defended himself

Walking back and forth "No Dad, You're looking out for you, What are you afraid if word gets out I'll embarrass you, Chief of surgery's son dating diner girl, Can't have that can we?" He shot at his father

"Jack" He said sternly

Shaking his head "I don't want to hear anymore Dad, I really like her, I mean I could fall in love with her" He stopped replaying what he'd jus said and continuing " So if you can't be happy for me, If you can't be civil towards her, than stay away from us" He told him his voice full of emotions

"What are you saying Jack? I can't see my Grandson anymore" He said

"No I wouldn't do that, Aaron loves you and unlike you I put my son ahead of myself" He said pausing "It means that you won't lose your grandson, but I can't say the same about your son Dad" He finished walking out before his father could say anything else

Walking to the backyard, he told Diane that he's dad had an emergency so he had to get going. Looking down at the dock, he saw that Kate was now down there, playing with Aaron and the worms which Aaron seemed to love

Wrapping his arms around Kate from the back, kissing her sweetly before resting his chin on her shoulder, watching Aaron and Sam together, Jack tightened his grip thinking that_ this_ was all he'd ever need

**Tell Me What You Think? More Reviews, Faster Updates :)**

**Next Chapter : ANGST! Between Jack & Kate, & Between Jack & Aaron, Plus About Aaron's Mother :)**


	12. Secrets & Tears

**Here's The New Chapter :)**

Aaron came home from Soccer practice slamming the door open on his way in the house. Running to the kitchen, Christian followed suit.

"Daddy Daddy!" He screamed out as he ran into the kitchen, he saw his dad and Kate sitting at the counter.

"Whoa slow down Buddy" Jack said picking him up and sitting him on the counter

"He's got good news Son" Jack heard his father say as he walked in

"Thanks for bringing him Dad" Jack looked over at his father

Nodding he replied "See you later Aaron" He waved at the little boy "Nice seeing you again Kate" He finished in a toned voice before leaving.

Jack couldn't figure out if he was trying to be civil to Kate or just trying to get a rise out of him, either way he didn't care, remembering Aaron had news

"So what's this good news Sport?" He said smiling at his son's big smile on his face

"Look Daddy! Look!" He said happily holding up a piece of paper addressed to Jack

Reading it over he looked back at Aaron "Aaron that's awesome, MVP of the month" He told him with a smile

Aaron jumped up off the counter and flew into Jack's arms, wrapping his little ones around his daddy's neck.

"Are you proud of me Daddy?" He asked pulling away to look at his dad

"I'm always proud of you Aaron" He said "But yes I am very proud" He said holding him tighter and he felt Aaron press a soft kiss on his cheek

"Does that mean you'll come?" He asked his daddy

Jack smiled "I wouldn't miss it for the world Buddy" Setting him back on the table

Aaron looked over at Kate who had been watching the whole thing smiling "Will you come too Miss Austen?"

Kate looked over at Jack who raised his eyebrow and nodded "Of course I will Aaron" She told him, and he scouted over to the other side of the counter and gave Kate a warm hug, looking over the little boys shoulder at Jack to see him smiling at them, she wrapped her arms around the little guys frame.

* * *

It was the day of Aaron's award ceremony, it was later on tonight but right now Jack was working and Kate had said that she'd meet him there.

He finished his rounds and made sure everything was done in time for him to leave for Aaron's ceremony, it was at 7 o'clock and it was now 6, going into his office and grabbing his jacket to go home to change and then head to the school. On his way out the door he heard his name being called "Jack!"

Turning around he saw his father walking up to him with a man about his age dressed in a black suit

"Jack this is Joel, Joel this is my son and doctor here Jack" He introduced them

Jack shook his hand "It's nice to meet you"

"Joel is the head of the company that pays for the hospital funding" He told Jack and he tried to smile

Jack looked down at his watch "That's great, But I uhm have somewhere I need to be" He told the two men

"I was actually hoping to get a tour of the hospital, and your dad here tells me you're my man" He said to Jack

Jack looked at his father with an angry look "He did huh?"

"I did, so do you think you can manage this simple task Jack?" He asked his son harshly

Jack looked down at his watch again and swallowed hard, he didn't know why his father was doing this when he knew he had to get to Aaron.

"This is a very important man Jack" He added sternly

"Yeah, let's go Joel" He said taking in a large gulp

* * *

Meanwhile Kate kept looking at the clock as the time went on and on and still no Jack. She looked up to the front and saw Aaron looking at her in search of his dad, she waved at him and smiled and he raised his hand to wave back with a sad look on his face.

"_Where the hell are you Jack" _Kate mumbled under her breath

Time went on, and kids went up to get their own awards, and soon enough it was Aaron's turn, and then it ended and Jack still wasn't there.

* * *

Jack got out of the hospital around 9 and headed home, trying to think of a way to explain why he wasn't there for Aaron, he knew he was going to be furious and he had a right to be.

Pulling in drive way, and unlocking the door throwing his coat on the table by the door, he walked into the leaving room where he found Kate and Aaron sitting on the couch watching cartoons

Kate heard him come in and turned her head to look at him, she could see right away that he felt horrible and his eyes were sad, she gave him a sad smile and watched as Aaron realized he was home

Aaron looked back at him, and Jack gave him an apologetic look, the little boy turned off the television and walked passed his dad up the stairs without saying anything or making any kind of contact

"Aaron" Jack whispered

The little boy stopped on the third last step from the top of the staircase "You promised" He said quietly full of hurt

Jack could tell that he was hurting, and his voice was shaky "I know" He replied

"Where were you then?" He asked not needing to know the answer because he already knew

"I got…I got caught up at the hospital Buddy" He trailed off

The little boy nodded biting his bottom lip and eyes filling up with tears "It was more important than me" He said his words trembling

"Hey, I love you" Jack told him with tears forming in his own eyes now

"You love the hospital better than me, what did I do bad?" He stated not as a question but for how he was feeling

Jack gulp back a weep in his throat before replying "Nothing, Don't ever think that, you are the most important thing to me"

"Then why weren't you there!" He cried out "All the other Daddy's were there" He screamed at his dad letting all his emotions come out now

"I know, but I do care about you ,more than anything, you know that right?" He asked sadly

The little boy shook his head "Miss Austen cares about me but you don't" He said crying

Jack looked up at him frozen, he didn't know what to say, he knew what he wanted to say but the words just weren't coming out, so he just stood there looking at him and felt a single tear fall down his cheek

"You hate me, and I hate you!" Aaron screamed out loud, stomping the floor with tears flowing down his little cheeks onto his blue shirt

The little boy turned around to walk up the stairs "Aaron I'm sorry" Jack said softly his voice trembling

"I know" The little man replied without turning around, he walked up the rest of the stairs and slammed his bedroom door shut.

* * *

Jack turned around to walk to Kate, who silently watched the whole thing play out; he sat down next to her on couch, running his hand over his face trying to wipe away the tear stains

"You think he's ever going to forgive me?" Jack asked her with sad eyes

"I think this was important to him Jack, and he wanted to share that with you, the sad part is that he didn't enjoy it because he couldn't be proud of himself because he thought his daddy wasn't proud enough to come" She told him carefully trying to make him understand without hurting him

"I am proud of him Kate" He told her with his head down, not able to look at her

"I know you are, but he's just a kid and you can't just tell him you're proud, you need to show him, He needed you tonight and you weren't there" She said softly

"I know" He nodded

"So why weren't you there Jack" She asked

His face went tense immediately "My dad stuck me with this big shot from the company the hospital gets its funding from" He said to her running a hand over his head

"And that's why you missed it? To stay at the hospital?" She asked and he nodded

"Jesus Jack, I really don't understand you" She said harshly and got up off the couch to grab her jacket

"What?" He shot back at her

"I thought at least you would have been in surgery, you know a life or death situation" She stated and continued "But showing some guy around the hospital, anybody could have done that" She somewhat yelled at him, shooting her hands up in the air

"You don't get it, my father came to me and asked me to do it" He defended himself

Kate blow out a puff of air she'd been holding in "So you say no Jack! You tell him you have to be there for your son" She stated walking closer to him "God how old are you?, you still do everything your dad tells you to do?" She yelled "You should have made your own decision and you should have chosen that sweet little boy up stairs" She finished her rant

Jack was a bit taking back by her outburst, all the time he's known Kate she's been this down to earth girl, and now she was mad at him and that let him know that what he did was horrible, he's heart knew that but he's head wanted to fight, he's head wanted to win

"Well I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you Kate, I'm sorry I'm not as good" He yelled back at her, shooting his arms out

"And I'm sorry that I'm not the greatest father okay? I didn't exactly ask to be one" He shot at her

Hearing his words her face got softer and she looked over at him and the pain in his face "What do you mean? What does that mean you didn't ask to be one?" She asked him moving closer

He turned towards the wall when he saw her walking over to him "Nothing, Can we just forget about it" turning around to see that she was practically pressed up against him now, she raised her hands to cup his face, looking directly in his eyes "Talk to me" She said

Running her hands down his side to grab his hand and pull him over to the couch, they sat there in silence for a while, their hands intertwined

"I have a sister" He said to her after a while "I_ had_ a sister" He corrected himself

Looking over at Kate knowing she was going to want him to explain "Her name was Claire" He said smiling as he spoke her name "She uhh she died a while back" He told her

Kate placed a hand on his shoulder "I'm so sorry Jack"

He nodded sadly "Me too"

"She had a condition called Placental Previa" He said looking at Kate, Kate had a sad but confused look on her face so he continued

"It's a condition that can cause you to Hemorrhage during child birth" He told her taking in a deep breath

_**Flashback **_

_Claire was sitting in the room that was soon going to be her baby's nursery; she was putting things in a box and writing a letter to her unborn child just in case she didn't make it._

"_Claire" She heard her brother yell from the bottom of the stairs "Claire, What are you doing?" He asked once he reached the top of the stairs_

"_I'm in the nursery Jack" She replied _

"_What are you doing in here?" He asked _

_She shrugged "I need to talk to you" She stated _

_Her brother became slightly afraid as he sat down next to her "What's going on?"_

"_Jack we need to talk about what is going to happen if I don't make it" She told him_

_His body tensed and he shook his head "No, Claire listen to me you are going to be fine, this baby is going to be fine okay?" He said sweetly rubbing her arm_

_She nodded "But if something happens to me" She started before he cut her off once again "Claire we're not talking about this" He told her firmly_

"_Jack please" She began to feel the tears swelling up in her blue eyes and pouring down her cheek_

_Wrapping his comforting arms around her, he whispered soothing words in her ear "It's okay, alright let's talk okay"_

_Pulling away moments later she grabbed his hand and held it tight "If something happens to me" She started and she could see that he wanted to stop her again but he bit his lip and closed his mouth letting her speak "If something happens to me, I want you to take care of my baby" She told him_

_He'd been shocked by her request, he didn't say anything for a period of time, and he finally spoke "Claire, I can't, I can't be a dad" He told her_

"_Yes you can, you make a wonderful father Jack, I know you would love and protect this baby" She said rubbing his hand she held firmly in her hand_

"_Claire, I don't think this is a good idea" He stated_

"_Please, I know what it feels like to be loved by you Jack, and I want, I need him to know that too" She said wiping away the tears falling down her cheek, and letting out a little laugh "I want him to know you, I want to love you and learn from you, I can't think of anyone better" She told him smiling that sweet little smile that got him every time when they were younger._

"_Please Jack I can't do this without you" She pleaded and he wrapped his arms around her once again "Okay, I promise but Claire you're going to be able to raise him yourself" He said kissing her forehead _

_She nodded "Just in case" She whispered kissing his cheek softly before pulling back to see his eyes were watery too, she laughed wiping away the tears on her cheek._

"_And Jack name him Aaron okay" She told him and he gave her a small smile "Okay"_

"_I love you" she said standing up from where they were sitting, Jack placed his hands deep in his pockets "I love you too Sis"_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

"She died giving birth to Aaron, so I guess I was wrong, everything wasn't'….it wasn't _okay_" He said tears slowly coming down his cheek, Looking over at Kate who was crying also and tightened her grip on his hands

"So you kept your promise, you took the baby" She said to him with a sad smile

He gave her a weak smile in reply "Not at first, at first I couldn't look at him" He shook his head "I couldn't because he just reminded me that my sister was gone" He told her his voice cracking with emotion

"So what changed your mind?" She asked

"I guess I just realized that he was part of her, that little baby boy was the only thing I had left of her" He said taking a breath and shaking his head out of the thoughts

"You are a great dad Jack, and Aaron loves you so much, you did an amazing thing for your sister and Aaron is lucky to have such a amazing guy for his father, don't ever dough that" She told him honestly

He gave her a small smile and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her lips, cupping her face in his hands as hers wrapped around his neck, she felt a tear slide between his cheek and hers, and she couldn't tell which one of them the tear belonged too.

They walked upstairs hand and hand to Aaron's bedroom door, it was quiet and the only light was from the little lamp on his night stand, walking over to the boy's bed, they both just watched him sleep for a minute or two

"Funny thing is now I can't imagine my life without him in it, I love him so much" Jack said to Kate while looking at the sleeping boy

Jack bent down to place a kiss on his son's forehead before clicking the light off and heading to bed himself.

**So What Do You Think? Tell Me ! :), Did You Guess It Was Claire?**


	13. Zoo's & I love you's?

After talking with Kate three nights ago, and letting her know about Claire, their relationship seemed to just keep on progressing. The last three days Jack had been trying to spend as much time with Aaron as possible, he was still kind of angry about Jack missing his awards, and Kate came along with them most of the time to Aaron's request.

Jack was happy that Aaron was getting along with Kate so well, he just wished it wasn't because currently him and Aaron weren't on the best terms.

They were lying on the couch after putting Aaron to sleep, the TV was on but no one was really watching.

"Do you think he's going to forgive me?" Jack asked while playing with her hair gently

Kate snuggled up to him even more, nuzzling her head in his chest "He already forgives you, he just mad Jack" She told him "Here's a little boy you have to show him you're going to be there for him next time"

Jack blinked "So I have to wait for there to be a next time so he'll talk to me?" He said sadly

Kate giggled and kissed him sweetly and softly, "No, just take him to do something tomorrow"

Jack raised his eyebrows "Like what?" he asked

Kate shook her head "Do I have to do everything?" She laughed "Take him to the zoo, he loves animals"

Jack nodded "Will you come?" he asked her looking like a lost puppy

Wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself onto his lap and kissing his lips quickly "Of course, what would you do without me?" She joked with him

He pulled her in closer to him "I don't want to find out" He replied sweetly before pulling in for another long kiss.

The next day, they let Aaron know about the zoo, he went straight upstairs to get dressed.

"I hope this works" Jack said to her nervously

Kate placed her hand on his shoulder "This is killing you isn't it? Him not talking to you?"

Jack nodded and she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, resting her head on his shoulder

"It will work, I promise" She reassured him

After Aaron came down they went to the zoo. They spent the whole afternoon walking around and looking at all the different animals, Aaron loved it; he was asking a million questions and petting all the animals, well the ones he could anyways.

They reached a big red and yellow tent at the back of the zoo

"What's that daddy?" Aaron said pointing to it

Jack looked over at Kate, she didn't seem to know what it was either "I don't know Buddy; you want to go check it out?" He asked the little boy glad he was talking to him again

"Are we aloud daddy?" He asked excitedly

Jack nodded and grabbed the boy, putting him on his shoulders they walked in. It was for kids to take turns getting a ride on an elephant, for a fee of course.

"Daddy Daddy! Look, that elephant is HUGE!" He shouted

Jack just laughed along with Kate, who was holding his hand tighter as they approached the elephants

Jack looked down at their hands "Are you scared Kate?" He chuckled

She slapped his shoulder "Hey Buddy, Kate's scared of the elephants" He told Aaron giving him a wink

The little man went over and grabbed Kate's other hand "Don't worry they won't hurt you" He told her guiding her over to one of them

He reached out and touched it, feeling the wrinkled grey skin "Come on Miss Kate, you touch me too, I won't let him hurt you"

Kate smiled looking back at Jack, she couldn't help but notice the effect he had on this little boy, Aaron was so much like Jack in so many ways. She let the young boy bring her hand up to the elephant and gently rubbed up and down.

"See he's nice" Aaron said with a big smile

"Hey Aaron, you want to go for a ride?" Jack asked him looking over at the elephant

Aaron looked at his dad with a blank expression "I don't know Daddy? Is it safe?" He asked

Jack laughed a little picking him up and kissing his forehead "Of course, I wouldn't let anything hurt you"

Aaron stared at Jack than back at the elephant, as if checking it over before nodding "Okay"

Jack paid the man and helped Aaron get on the elephant, as he trotted around the ring, Kate took a picture of them, and Aaron waved to them from up top

Back at the bottom Kate was wrapped around Jack's body; looking over at him she smiled "You did good today"

He returned her smile "Thanks to you" He leaned in to kiss her quickly

They were quiet for a while just watching Aaron, then Kate spoke again

"Hey Jack" She said waiting for him to look at her "I think I love you" She blurted out, before Jack or Kate had time to prepare for it, it just kind of came out of her mouth, she hadn't planned on it, it happened but she couldn't say that it was completely un true, and it felt so natural.

Jack stood there completely shocked, he didn't know what to say, he knew he had feelings for Kate, he knew he didn't want her to leave anytime soon, he also knew how easy it was to get hurt once you say those words, once you give your heart away like that.

"I uhh, I better go get Aaron" was the only words to come out of his mouth before he walked away to pick Aaron up.

**Tell me what you think? It was kind of short but the next one will be longer :)**


	14. Starts With Goodbye

**New chapter finally, Thank you Mari for helping me out with this one :) Hope you guys like it!**

Two days have past since they went to the zoo, and Kate told him that she loved him. Since than Jack hadn't talked to her for more than 5 seconds, he tried calling, she wouldn't answer and if she did, she'd make something up like the water was running in the kitchen, he was frustrated although he couldn't really blame her.

Now he was in the hospital cafeteria with Mark, telling him about all this

"So how did the zoo go?" Mark asked

Jack looked down at his plate "It was, uh good"

"Well don't jump up and down about it" His friend laughed "So Aaron's talking to you again?"

Jack nodded "Yeah, he's not the problem now"

"What do you mean? What's the problem now?" Mark asked curiously

"Kate" He said right away "I mean, me it's not Kate, I'm the problem"

"Okay, I'm a trained surgeon and I can't follow, start from the beginning"

Jack took a big breath "She told me she loved me"

It was quiet for minutes after that, Mark being slightly shocked, not knowing what to say and wondering that was a problem

"Wow man, what did you say?"

Jack shook his head "Nothing, I just went to get Aaron"

Mark laughed a little "You're kidding right?"

Jack shook his head "No, I wish I was man, what am I going to do?"

"Jack, you got this incredible girl, who just declared her love for you, and you say nothing? You need help my friend"

"I know, I'm such an idiot"

"No arguments here" Mark shrugged looking at Jack, realizing this was hurting him "Look all I can say is, I've never seen you this happy man, she does make you happy right?"

"Yeah, she does, I feel amazing when I'm with her" Jack smiled sadly

"Do you love her?" Mark asked the question Jack had been asking himself for the past 48 hours

"I have feelings for her, I love being with her, being near her, But am I in love with her. I don't know"

Mark just stared at his friend, as if it were obvious "Love is a big word man, it's scary"

"So you let the fear of it keep you from telling her how you feel, you hurt her that way because you were scared?" Mark asked harshly but it had to be done

Jack didn't abject he knew he was being a jerk, and he knew that he had hurt Kate, and that he never wanted to, he didn't mean to do that, he was scared but that was no excuse. Mark got up and stopped at Jack, patting his friend on the shoulder he finished with 3 simple words "Count to five man"

* * *

That night Jack made Aaron supper, and they watched a little television, he asked for Kate more than once, and Jack's heart sunk every time he'd have to tell him she wasn't coming tonight. After the movie, Jack brought Aaron upstairs to his bed; he'd fallen asleep half way through the film. Tucking him in, kissing his forehead "Goodnight Buddy" He said

Walking downstairs to turn off the lights and lock the door, he heard a soft knock on the door, how could be visiting him at this time? He went over to the door turning on the porch light

"Kate" He breathed out of shock that she was there once he opened his door "It's late, is everything okay?"

"I need to talk to you" She told him as he opened the door for her to come inside

Standing by the door silently "Do you want to go sit down?" He asked sifting uncomfortably

She shook her head "No I'd rather stay here"

Jack looked at her sadly; he could see she had tear stains on her cheeks "What's going on Kate?"

"My friend Beth called me last week" She started "She's the principal of a school back where I used to live, in Iowa"

"Oh yeah? That's great" He said completely unsure of why she was telling him this

"She called because she wants me to go down there, and teach at her school Jack" She informed him

"What? You're not going to go right? You love your job" Jack forced out of his mouth while he's heart was pounding in his chest

"I do love my job" She said "But it would be nice to go back there"

Jack passed back and forth, running his hand through his brown hair "When would you leave?" Jack asked

Kate's eyes started to fill with tears "As soon as they can find a replacement for me here"

Jack could feel the water fill his eyes "I really don't want you to go Kate" He told her walking and wrapping his arms around her body, kissing her slowly

"Why didn't you tell me before?" He asked when she was wrapped in his arms; she was crying now, the tears flowing out of her eyes like blood from a cut

"I didn't know if I was going to go, I just decided" She told him wiping a falling tear from her cheek

"When…..When did you decide you were going?" He asked "Is this about a few days ago?"

Kate looked down at her feet than back up at him "That was part of it, yes" She paused seeing the regret in his eyes "I didn't tell you before because I really didn't want to leave you, I wanted to stay here with you, be with you, But I was looking for you to give me a reason to stay Jack" She cried out at him

"Kate" that was all that came out of his mouth, as soft as it could have been

"You didn't Jack, so that's when I knew that should go, there's nothing here for me to have a future with" She told him, looking in his sad brown eyes, she could see the pain this was given him

"Kate, please don't do this" He choked out

Kate simply walked closer into him, cupping his face in her hands, rubbing his stumble gently before pressing her lips to his gently, the kiss lasted longer than she meant it too but didn't mind much, they poured everything they had into each other in one kiss. Pulling away their foreheads stayed linked together "Goodbye Jack" She whimpered against his mouth before opening the door and walking out, leaving him there confused and heart broken.

Just like that she was gone.

**Tell me what you think? 2 more chapters to go before it's finished :)**


	15. You're My Shore

Kate was sitting with Rebecca on her couch, tear stained cheeks, and clutching to a pillow.

"So you told him?" Rebecca asked, Kate gave her a slight nod

"Well what did he say?" She asked

Kate raised her body so she was sitting, pillow in her lap, hands crunching it at the top; she wiped a tear away before replying "He said that he really didn't want me to leave"

"You should have seen his eyes, they were sad and full of guilt, but I had to do this" She finished

Rebecca reached out to rub her shoulder "Why Kate?" She asked "Why do you have to do this?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that you and Jack are good together, why can't you just _be_ together"

Another tear escaped her eyes before she said "I told him that I loved him Becca"

Smiling sadly at her friend "I know you did, and I know you do"

Running a head over her forehead and down her cheek in frustration "He didn't say it back, and then when I told him I was leaving, I gave him another chance to tell me how he feels, and he didn't take it" She cried out

"He told you he wanted you to stay, maybe that's his way of showing how he feels" She tried

Kate shook her head; tears flowing down her cheeks "At least go and talk to him again"

Kate thought about it and decided that she would, tomorrow she would go see Jack again, and she couldn't walk away without one more try.

* * *

Jack was sitting on his couch watching the game highlights, Aaron was out with his friend for the day, so he had some times on his hands, he heard the phone ring, getting up to answer it "Hello"

"Hey Jack"

"Kate, Hey what's up?" Jack said lamely

"I was hoping maybe we could talk" She said hopefully

"Yeah, of course we can" He told her glad she still wanted to talk to him

"Okay, can I come over, or do you think we should meet up somewhere?" She asked

"No, Aaron's not here, so we can talk here" Jack informed her

"Okay, I'll see you soon" and with that she hung up and made her way over to Jack's

Hearing her knock at the door, and letting her inside, they walked into the kitchen to talk

"Do you want something to drink?" Jack asked

"No, I'm good thanks" She replied

There was an awkward silence between them, Kate hated that their relationship has become a bundle of awkward silences and painful conversations.

"Jack, how do you feel about me?" Kate said breaking the silence

"You know how I feel about you Kate" he answered

"No Jack, I don't I want you to tell me, please tell me"

Jack took a breath, he was never good at this kind of thing, and now she was just calling him out on it

"I want to be with you Kate" He said "I like how I feel when I'm with you, and the person I am with you is who I've always wanted to be"

Kate stood in front of him, her eyes were crying now, she took a few steps towards him, looked into those gorgeous brown orbs "Do you love me?"

Jack's breath hitched and he looked into her eyes as if searching for something, raising his hand to his her face, softly rubbing the tears away with his thumb, smiling at her slightly, but not saying anything.

"You can't say it, can you?" She asked her voice getting caught in her throat, tears spilling out even more now, Jack was still completely silent and she stepped back, making his hand fall to his side, He could swear he felt a cold drift the second his hand stopped making contact with her face

"I love you Jack" She said "And I can say it because that's how _I _feel about _you_"

"Kate" He finally spoke

"Jack, do you have any idea why I love you?" She asked "I mean do you know what you did for me?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, feeling his eyes fill up with tears

"I love you, because before you come along I was just floating along, wasn't going anyway, I was stuck in the current Jack, than I meet you, you walked into my life and you made it so much better, that is such an amazing thing to do for someone, and with you I thought that finally I reached the shore, I wasn't floating anymore, you were my shore"

"Guess I was wrong huh?" She said with a bitter laugh

"No Kate, I care about you so much, I do, please don't go" He said walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her shaking body, he could feel his shirt getting wet with tears as he held her

"I love you but I can't stay" She said kissing him quickly "Because I deserve to loved back"

And just like a few nights ago she was gone again. But this time she wasn't coming back.

* * *

The next day, the day before Kate was leaving, Jack and Aaron were at his parent's house, his mom was pushing Aaron on the swing out in the backyard, and Jack and Christian were in the kitchen.

"Drink this" His father said handing him a coffee "You look like crap"

Jack grabbed the mug and took a sip "Yeah, well I haven't been sleeping very well lately"

"What's the reason for that son?" Christian asked

"Kate's leaving, she's taking a job out of town" He said quietly

"Out of town how?"

"Iowa" He replied

"Wow, that's far from California" The older man stated

Jack nodded "its 28 hours45 minutes" He started "About 2000 miles away from here"

"Well you've obviously been thinking about this" His father said to him

"She told me she loved me dad" His son blurted out

Christian looked shocked at this outburst "Wow, so you told her you love her too"

Jack looked up, he hadn't expected his father to think that any son of his could love a girl like Kate "No I didn't"

"You don't love her, cause son it seemed to me that you were head over heels a few weeks ago" He said

"It did?" He questioned, his father nodded

"Do you love her Jack?"

"Why do you care Dad, you never wanted us together" He shot out

His father came over by his placing his hands on the table "Jack, if this doesn't work out, you can't blame this one on me, and this one is going to be all on _you_"

"Do you love Kate?" He asked again after not getting his answer the first time

Jack looked down at the table, scenes replaying in his head like a movie, the soccer game, the butterflies he got when he first saw her, his heart pounding in his chest when they danced, the way his heart skipped a beat when they first kiss, playing football with Aaron and the way his son attached himself to her , the way he felt when he heard those three words come out of her mouth, it was the way he always felt when he was with her, amazing and in love.

"Yes" He said "I'm so in love with her"

"Than why are you sitting here telling me?" He asked

The older man walked over and placed a hand on his sons shoulder "Listen Jack, I know I didn't make it easy on Kate or you to be together, but the truth is she made you happy, and I was happy for that"

"Don't make the same mistakes I made Jack, Don't be the kind of guy who finds love and lets it slip away, you have to hang onto that kind of love, the kind you have with Kate, because think about how many times are you going to be that lucky son?"

They finished their conversation with that, and Jack took Aaron home and put him in bed. Walking downstairs looking over at the couch the memory of him and Kate watching the game together all cuddled up on a rainy day flashed through his mind. He shook it off, he had to get out of this house, everything in it reminded him of her, so he walked outside and backyard football flashed through his head, he would never be able to forget about her, to be honest he didn't want to. But what could he about that now, she was leaving tomorrow and there was nothing he could do about that now.

**Let me know what you think?**


	16. Their Love Is Like Gravity

**So this is the end of this story, you guys have been awesome, i really appreciate all the reviews and i hope you guys like this chapter too. It's the longest one of this story. :)**

**Enjoy!**

Jack stumbled around the hospital the next day. Today was the day she was leaving, he tried not to think about but the harder he tried the more she was on his mind. As his mind travelled a million miles a hour, he began to think about faith, about science, about how being a doctor made him believe that he'd been a man of science, that in order to believe in something, he would have to see it with his own eyes. But than what about love? You can't always see it; he knew that, if it were possible to see love in every way Kate wouldn't be leaving. What about gravity? Just because we can't see these things through the human eyes doesn't mean they aren't real.

Comparing the two in his head for a second he thought about how people often get confused when asked to describe either one of these things, how could you possibly give an explanation on how it feels to love someone, and gravity, you can't see it but you know it there, it's keeping the stars from falling out of the sky, the more he went over it in his head, the more he began to think that, gravity was the only thing he could come up with to compare to the way he feels about Kate.

The way he felt about her was indescribable, you couldn't see it, and you couldn't touch it, but you knew it was there, and it would keep pulling him in to where he was meant to be, and he guessed that's where faith came in, to let him know that with Kate was where he was meant to be. Their love was a lot like gravity, he decided.

While this battle was going on inside him, on the outside he was walking to the next door, to check on another patient, when he heard his name being called, turning around to see it was his dad calling it

"Hey, Dad, What's up?" He asked

"I think you should take the day off Jack" He said "Go home"

The young doctor simply shook his head "I'm fine, and I'm already here so, I'm not going home"

Putting a gentle hand on his sons shoulder "You may be here Jack, but you're not _here_"

Jack just looked down at the floor, running a hand over his head in frustration; Christian took the chance to ask his son about the real issue at hand "You haven't talked to Kate?" He asked knowing the answer from his broken looking son at the moment

Shaking his head "I had her dad" He said taking a breath "The perfect women, beautiful, smart, she understood me, she loved my little boy and he was crazy about her, she loved me, I had her"

Looking at his dad in the eyes with nothing but hurt and sadness in his "And I lost her" he finished

"You didn't lose her son, she's just down the street and to your left, if you love this girl, than go get her" His father said honestly just wanting what was best for his son

Shaking his head "Nah, it's too late for that"

Stopping him from walking away with a hand on his chest, looking into those brown sad eyes "Why?....why is it too late?"

"You wouldn't understand Dad" He shot back removing his father's hand from his chest and started walking away

"You don't think I understand this?" He yelled causing the young doctor to stop but not turn around to face him

"You don't think I understand what it's like to have someone you love more than anything, and knowing that don't think you care, messing up so bad that you don't know how to tell them you love them" He continued and Jack turned around, a sharp pain in his stomach when he realized that they were talking about his relationship with his father now.

"I understand that Jack" he finished tears forming in the older man's eyes

Walking over to his dad, understanding what he was trying to say, he wrapped his arms around him in a tight long overdue hug "I know you do, I love you dad" Feeling his dad pat him on the back "I love you too Jack, and I want you to be happy, and if it's Kate that makes you happy, don't let her go"

Pulling out of the hug, Jack cleared his throat "Well maybe I will go home, you can get someone to cover for me?" He asked

His father nodded "Don't worry about, go figure things out"

With one last nod, Jack got in his car and made his way home. Looking at the clock on the car radio he saw that he would be home just in time to pick up Aaron off the bus. Parking the car and running upstairs to change, he quickly made his way down the street to the bus stop.

He waited for a few minutes before he saw the bus pull around the corner, and stop where he was standing, a few kids got off before he saw Aaron walk down the stairs with his head down, dragging his backpack on the ground behind him

"Hey Buddy, why don't I carry that for you" He said grabbing the little boys backpack and swinging it over his shoulder

They walked home, Aaron walking a few steps ahead of Jack, and not responding to his questions about his day, he just shrugged his shoulders, the little boy never making eye contact with his dad.

When they got inside, Jack shut the door "Okay Aaron, you haven't said a word since I picked you up" He said "What's wrong?"

"Nothing" the little guy said and headed to the stairs

"Aaron, come on Buddy, talk to me" Jack said grabbing him and sitting him on the step while kneeling in front of his son

"It's your fault that Miss Kate is leaving right?" He finally said

Jack looked a little taken back "What?"

"She said today was her last day, and we were going to have a new teacher" Aaron told his father

"Daddy, did you know she was leaving?" He asked innocently

Jack could only nod and Aaron's eyes started to fill with tears "Why, what did you do Daddy?" He asked his voice almost yelling

"Aaron I didn't…..its grown-up stuff okay" He tried

"It is your fault" He yelled

Jack started to shake his head, but he didn't want to start lying to his son now, so instead he nodded slowly "Yeah, it is"

Aaron looked at his dad with wide eyes, tears spilling out of them now, as he walked up the stairs he made sure to stomp on every step, Jack watched him stomp up the stairs, tears in his own eyes now "Aaron, wait" He tried

The sad little boy turned around "I liked Kate Daddy, she was my friend" He said puffing out his little chest "And you made her leave, I hate you, I hate you, I wish you were never my daddy" He said and he slammed his bedroom door shut, throwing himself on his bed, face buried in the pillow and cried

Jack stood at the bottom of the stairs, tears falling down his cheeks, the words his little boy just said to him ringing in his ears _I hate you I hate you_ over and over again, walking over to the couch putting his head in his hands, "I hate me too" He mumbled before letting himself break down and feel everything that was happening around him.

* * *

They say you don't recognize the significant moments in your life, until they have already passed and gone, well Jack didn't know when he fell in love with Kate Austen but he knew he did and that was enough for him to call his mom to come over and watch his tear stained sleeping little boy while he jump in his car and drove as fast as he could to the airport.

He parked in the first spot he could find and ran into the airport, checking his watch he knew that Kate's flight was going to be boarding any minute if they hadn't already. Running over to the front desk

"Can you tell me when the flight 815 is boarding" He asked once he arrived there

"Sir, there are people ahead of you" She told him motioning to the people waiting in line

Jack ran a hand over his chopped hair "Please, its important" He pleaded

The women seeing the desperate look his brown eyes held, nodded her head "Right now" She said

Before she lifted her head from looking at the computer he was gone, running through the airport, looking at every sign, trying to find a sign that said something to give him some direction. Stopping where he was standing looking around knowing he was completely lost and didn't have much time, he turned around running his hand through his hair again.

Suddenly he stopped, looking to his left his eyes locked on a beautiful brunette, looking closer he could see that it was her, it was Kate. She was standing at the terminal handing the guy her ticket.

"KATE!" He yelled, and started running towards her, when she didn't turn around he tried again "KATE!" He yelled as he got closer

She turned around slowly, as soon as she did her eyes meet those beautiful brown ones she knew so well, she wanted to say something, do something, but she couldn't move, couldn't find words, her throat was dry and her mind was blank, and from looking at Jack he seemed to be feeling it too.

After a few seconds past which seemed like eternity she finally spoke "Jack, what are you doing here?"

Jack drew in a sharp breath "I really need to talk to you"

Kate turned back around half way "Jack, I can't do this again"

"Umm Miss, if you're getting on, you better do it now" The man at the gate interrupted them

Jack looked at Kate than back at the guy "Can you just give us a minute" sending him a glare that made the guy back off and keep the door open

"Okay Jack you got about five minutes before they take off without me" Kate told him sternly

He walked over, cupping her face in his hands, and in a fast soft movement placed his lips over hers, kissing her forcefully at first, he felt her body mold into his and slowed down the kiss, keeping his hands on her face as hers slid up his chest, resting there. He let his thumb gently run across her cheek caressing it softly, as his tongue ran across her lips, it didn't take long for her mouth to open deepening the kiss, they slowly pulled away, keeping their foreheads touching, Jack kept his hands on her face still rubbing his thumb over her cheek, her hands rested flatly on his chest.

"I'm not ready to lose you Kate" He said his voice still raw from the kiss

Kate let a small smile play on her lips, as she pressed herself closer to him "I'm not ready to be lost" She whispered

Kate pulled out of their embrace, looking at him "But Jack, I need you to let me in"

Jack pulled her closer to him, missing the warmth of her body against his "I know"

"Because Jack you never let me all the way in" She cried, a tear falling down her cheek

"I know, I'm so sorry Kate" He said "I guess I was just scared of being venerable, letting you completely in means tearing down these walls and being open to the possibility of getting hurt again"

"Jack, I would never hurt you" She said bringing her hands up to his the back of his head, and bringing him forward to gently kiss his lips

"I know, I also know I can't live my life without you, I don't want to, you changed my life Kate, you made me better, I can't do this without you, I need you" He stopped "And I am completely in love with you"

Pulling back slightly "Jack, are you sure you're not just saying this to make me stay"

Shaking his head against hers "Kate I'm saying it because it's true" He said "I've been falling for a while now and I was too stupid to admit it before, I love you so much Kate Austen"

Kissing him again, the guy behind them cleared his throat, when they didn't pull away from each other "Guess she's not going anywhere" He mumbled and shut the door

Jack pulled back "Wait I have something to ask you"

Kate laughed raising her eyebrows "What like I love you wasn't enough" She joked

Jack chuckled and pulled something out of his jacket pocket; it was small enough to fit in his hand

"Jack, what's that?" She asked and he opened his hand, showing her a plastic yellow ring with an elephant on it

"Are you trying to ask me something here Jack?" She asked with a nervous little laugh

"It's a promise ring" He said then laughed tilting his head "Or it's meant to be"

Kate laughed "When did you get this?" Jack smiled "I got it that day at the zoo, Kate I should have told you I loved you than"

Kate smiled wrapping her arms around his neck "So, are you going to tell me what you promise"

"I promise to let you in, and to always make sure you know how much I care about you, that I love you, and that someday, I'm going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me" He said sweetly

Kate leaned up and kissed him as he gently put the plastic ring on her finger, they kissed again, lifting her up in his arms, and spinning her around, they kept kissing in the middle of the airport.

To anyone who was walking by they simply looked like two people in love. That's exactly what they were.

**Let me know what you guys think? Did you like the ending? Maybe an Epilogue?**

**Hit the button :)**


	17. The End

**Okay Guys, So I really wanted to show what happen when Aaron found out that Kate was staying, but i was having some trouble fitting that in with the epilogue, So I wrote this chapter, and then I'm going to write the epilogue as another chapter, So here it is, Hope you guys like it! :)**

They watched Kate's plane take off without her, wrapped in each other's arms, hand in hand as they walked back over to Jack's car and drove home, stealing as many kisses as they could without getting in an accident.

Once they got there, they said goodbye to his mom as she told him that Aaron had fallen asleep a few hours ago, and then she was off

As soon as Kate heard the door shut behind his mother, her lips were on his again, kissing him hard, her lips roamed over his as his tongue begged for entrance by running along her bottom lip, Kate quickly allowed it in, pressing herself against Jack's body deepening the kiss, they stood there in his doorway drinking each other in like love struck teenagers, before the need for oxygen washed over them and they pulled apart, lips swollen, foreheads pressed together, both panting. Kate stepped out of his embrace and walked towards the stairs before looking back at him with a shy smile, she climbed the first step, and silently held out her hand for him

He looked at her standing there, biting his bottom lip in thought, he knew that Aaron was upstairs, and he knew that she was scared of going this far with him before, and he didn't want her to wake up and realize it was just one of those heat of the moment things, and feel bad about it. Looking back at her he felt his lips curve into a small too, she didn't look scared, she looked happy, so he walked over to her slowly and took her hand, bringing it up to his lips, he placed a gentle kiss there before she carefully pulled him up the rest of the stairs with her

The stumbled into the dark room, closing the door behind him, Jack felt himself being gently pushed towards the bed, reaching it he sat on the edge, as Kate brought her legs up and around his waist, straddling him there, he raised his hands and laid them on her hips, staring into his eyes before bringing her lips crashing down on his again, things progressed in the same way they had downstairs only this time Jack felt her fingers grasp at the hem of his shirt, letting her fingers dance along the skin there, smiling against his lips when she felt him take in a sharp breath as she lifted it up, breaking the kiss to pull it over his head and onto the floor, sliding her fingers back down his chest, she could feel the goose bumps on his skin following the trail her fingers were making, stretching his neck to meet her lips in a soft kiss, he stood up feeling her legs tighten around his waist, and her lips attach themselves to his neck, nibbling the skin there, he walked to the front of the bed, gentle laying her down, her legs pulling him along with her, hovering above her it was his turn to brush his lips up her neck, resting them just under her ear and sucking her tender skin

He heard her giggle as he let her flip them, she was now on top, but instead of hovering she sat herself up at his waistline, pulling her own shirt over her head, it joined his on the floor, he once again placed his hands on her waist, gently rubbing the skin there with his thumbs, his hold was tighter than it was before making her stay where she was, so he could take her in, his eyes seemed to study her every move as she reached behind her and undid her bra strap, raising the top half of his body to the same position she was in, he looked into her eyes while wrapping his arms around her "You're beautiful" He whispered in her ear

Kissing her shoulder, he made his way to her lips again, trailing kisses along her skin on his way, she pushed herself closer to him, causing them both to tumble back onto the bed, kissing his soft lips once more before tailing wet kisses down his chest and along his stomach until she reached the start of his jeans, she looked back up at him giving him a gorgeous smile before her hands gripped his belt, when she reached for the button of his denims, she felt his hands softly grasp her wrist, looking up into his brown eyes, he pulled her back up to his lips "Are you sure?" He asked her with nothing but concern and care in his voice

Running her hand along his jaw she whispered "I want this, more than anything" Not giving him a chance to respond she kissed him again, pulling away he saw her eyes full of love and nothing else, as she reached once again for the button of his jeans, this time he let her

* * *

Jack awoke the next morning to soft kisses starting at his collarbone to the finale one being placed on his chin, letting his eyes flutter open, seeing Kate smiling at him, her hair was scattered along his chest, one of her hands resting on his abdomen while the other held his face in her hands, bringing it up to her lips in a long sweet kiss

"Morning" He mumbled

"Morning yourself" She replied against his lips before taking another kiss

"How are you feeling?" he ask her wrapping his arms around her frame and pulling her on top of him

Placing a kiss on his chest near his heart she said "Incredible"

"No regrets?" He asked

"None" She told him, looking at those brown eyes of his, he kissed her lips "Me neither"

They laid there silently for a while, enjoying the feel and warmth of each other's bodies. Jack gently running a hand through her brown curls, as she traced small patterns with her finger on his chest. After a while, Kate heard a loud rumble, feeling it against her own stomach, she knew it was Jack, raising her head from his chest to look at him "Hungry?"

"I'm starving" He said

Kissing him again, she started to make her way off of him "Let's go get some breakfast"

She heard him muffle something against the pillow, burying his face in it "I'm tired, you wore me out" He laughed

She blushed and laughed along with him "I'll go get us something then"

She went to climb out of bed, but felt two strong arms wrap around her body "I don't want you to leave" He whispered against her bare back

Giggling, she turned to look at him "Okay, how about I bring it up here, I'll be right back" She tried to reason with him

He finally unwrapped himself from her, but grabbed hold of her hand as she slipped his shirt on, standing up she felt the tug and looked down at her hand that was intertwined with his, before she could protest he smiled at her "I love you"

Every bit of rational thinking washed away and she smiled leaning down to kiss him "I love you too" She said feeling his hand let go of hers, and she made her way down to the kitchen.

* * *

Kate fumbled around the kitchen, trying desperately to remember where everything was, trying to recall what Aaron had told her when they made pancakes together

"Kate?" a small sleepy voice was heard from behind her

She turned around and saw the voice was coming from a little boy wearing super-man pajama bottoms and no shirt; he scratched his chest as his half closed eyes seemed to fully open "Hey Aaron"

"What are you doing here?" He asked "I thought you were leaving"

Kate walked over to the little boy, picked him up and set him on the counter, smiling she said "Well I was, but now I'm going to stay"

Aaron's lips curved into a smile "Really, you're staying?" He said happily

Kate nodded "Is that okay?"

Aaron just wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly "I love you Kate" he said in her ear

Kate smiled "I love you too Kiddo"

Jack was standing at the entrance of the kitchen watching the two for a few seconds now, a grin plastered on his handsome face

"Daddy!" Aaron yelled when he saw him standing there, jumping off the counter he ran to his dad, given him a hug too "Don't worry Daddy, I still love you too" He said pulling away

"I'm sorry for being bad to you, I don't want another daddy but you" He said shaking his head to make a point

"It's okay buddy, I love you too" Jack said kissing his little boy on the head

Picking him up and walking over to Kate, kissing her quickly before asking "What are you making?"

Looking at Aaron with a smile "Pancakes" She replied

"Can I help again please Kate" Aaron clapped his hands happily

"Sure" She said and Jack set the little boy on the counter beside Kate

"I'll get everything out" Jack said

Looking over at Kate, Aaron said "Don't forget the chocolate chips Daddy, Kate and me like them"

Jack laughed grabbing the bag from the self and bringing all the stuff over to them. Aaron and Kate cooked the pancakes while Jack set the table.

Looking around his kitchen, for the first time in a long time, He was happy.

**There it is, the extra chapter ;), Hope you enjoyed it, Let me know what you thought!**

**Epilogue is going to take place a few years later...:)**


	18. Their Very Own Happily Ever After

_**Here's the last chapter guys, I really appreciate all the reviews, you guys are awesome, And THANK YOU Mari!! Because this chapter would have never gotten finished without you, ILU :). I hope you guys enjoy the final chapter. Thanks! :)**_

**6 months later….**

"You know it's not too late to back out man" Mark said

Chuckling Jack said "Your support means everything to me man, thanks"

"It's not every day your best friend gets married, this is big" He replied

Standing there in his tux pants and a white shirt, pulling on his dress shirt he shook his head "You're making me nervous now man"

"You have no reason to be, Kate is an amazing girl and she loves you, I've never seen you this happy, so no worries right?" His friend comforted him

Jack nodded smiling and Mark joked "I'm the one who should be worrying, where in the world did I put those rings"

Sending him a look before chuckling at him, and finished getting dressed and ready to marry the love of his life.

* * *

The ceremony went the way it normally did, Kate's dad walking her down the aisle, Jack's heart leaping from his chest when he saw her, she looked stunning in a strapless white dress, it was simple yet beautiful, just like Kate he decided, she reached him and gave him a heart stopping smile before the priest said what he normally says at every wedding, than it was Jack's turn, the decided to write their own vows because they weren't just any other couple so they wanted something unique

"Kate, I'm trying to find words to explain how I'm feeling but I'm not sure there are any, so I just want to say that you changed my life, you made it better Kate, you made me better, and after everything that we've been through, my issues and you almost leaving, none of that matters anymore, because we're here today doing this, getting married and promising the rest of lives to each other, this is where I was meant to be my whole life, with you, right here. I love you so much" He vowed smiling at her

Kate let go of his hand to wipe a tear falling down her cheek, and then grasped his hand again tighter than she had before, taking in his deep brown orbs, she started, her voice cracking

"I don't know what I could say after that, except that I love you too Jack, so much, you made my life worth living, I was always sort of a drifter, until you, you came in and your changed the way I thought about everything, about life and about love, the way I felt about you, the way we feel about each other makes me see that I can stick around, that this is where _I'm_ meant to be, you gave me the greatest gift, you gave me a reason to stay"

They kissed and their parents cried, and their loved ones clapped, there were lots of hugs and congratulations at the receptions, followed by a lot of dancing and a lot of beers. But at the end of this day, they were married, they were husband and wife.

* * *

For their honeymoon, they went to Thailand, alone. They left Aaron with Jack's parents, and took off for the first time they could just spent some time alone together, which they'd never really done before, they always had something or someone come with them.

"Kate, are you alright in there" Jack asked knocking on the door of the bathroom, when she didn't answer, he turned the handle and walked in, she was sitting on the ground, elbows holding her head up on the toilet, and from the flush cheeks her face was supporting he could tell she'd been sick

"Hey, Kate are you okay?" He asked bending down to her, stroking her back

"I'm sick Jack" She whined at him, sounding so child like he had to smile

They walked over to the bed together, Jack helping Kate as much as he could without putting too much of her weight on his body because every piece of his body was burnt, every piece of his body was sore but they managed to make it too the bed

"Jack, after this nausea goes away and you're not so burnt, I'm going to make this up to you" Kate said cuddling into his side, softly careful to hurt him

He kissed her sweetly "I'm looking forward to it"

"I don't want to spend our whole honeymoon in bed, and not make love to you"

Jack kissed her forehead, his face serious "That is not going to happen, trust me"

They kissed again, and fell into a peaceful sleep and they spent the next couple of days like that. A couple of days into the honeymoon Kate came out of the bathroom; once again her cheeks flushed looking exhausted

"Kate, you really should be feeling a little better now" He said cupping her face in his hands

Looking in his eyes, seeing the worry and care, she grabbed his hands and pulled him over to the bed

"Jack, I'm not sick" She said

Looking confused, he raised his eyebrows questioning her "Kate, you've been in the bathroom every morning for days, of course you're sick"

She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears "I'm not sick" She repeated "I'm pregnant Jack"

"Pregnant" He repeated

"I found out before the wedding, I wanted to tell you as our wedding present" She smiled at him

"Were pregnant" He said again "Were going to have a baby" This time, the smile that spread over his face was undeniably happy

Their daughter was born nine months later, they named her Ava. Ava Shephard had dark hair and her mom's green eyes to go with her daddy's giggle. She was beautiful and almost always slept through the night as long as she was close to her parent's bed.

* * *

**2 year after that…**

Kate opened her eyes to the morning sunlight and noticed the wrinkled sheets beside her were empty; Jack must have gotten up with Ava because she wasn't in her crib when she checked either. Walking into the living room she saw Aaron sitting on the floor in front of the television watching morning cartoons. Walking closer she kissed Aaron's forehead

"Morning Buddy" she said

"Good morning Mom" Aaron replied, who was know 10 years old

"Where's your dad?" She asked

"He's in the back with Ava" He told her pointing to the screen door

When she walked outside, she could hear Ava's little giggles right away, walking closer, she saw Jack and Ava lying on the grass; her 21 months old daughter was flat on her back reaching her tiny hands up to grab Jack as he lay on his side, popping his head up with one of his hands smiling at her

She soon realized that the giggles coming from their daughter was being caused by Jack bending down to blow on her round little tummy, her laughter filled the back yard and she smiled, walking over to them

"What are you two doing?" She asked once she reached them

Jack looked up at her, picking up their little girl and she rested her head on his shoulder as soon as he did, reaching her small fingers up to try and grab his nose

"We were just playing" He said kissing her softly

"How's our Princess doing this morning?" She asked kissing Ava

Wrapping his arms around her very pregnant belly, he pulled her in to rest on the other shoulder, opposite of Ava

"She's giggly, how is this little one?" He asked placing his hand on her stomach and rubbing his thumbs over her

"Kicking, all the time" She laughed

Jack chuckled along, "Where's Aaron?"

"He's inside watching cartoons" She replied

"I'm going to go see if he's alright" He said handing her Ava, who immediately began to cry at the loss of contact with her daddy, she bubbled out a "Dada!" as he left

Walking into the leaving room, taking a seat on the floor beside his not so little boy "Hey, Buddy what are you watching?"

"Scooby-Doo, They're about to catch the bad guy" He exclaimed

"So why don't you come outside and hang out with your dad for awhile" Jack suggested

"Don't you have to take care of Ava?" He asked

Jack's eyes softened "Aaron look at me, I know we haven't spent a lot of time together lightly, but Ava is still a baby and she needs a lot of attention, but I could really use your help with that Sport"

Aaron nodded "Okay Dad"

"So how about we do something tonight just the two of us?" Jack offered

Aaron shook his head "No Dad, can we have movie night, but I want Mom and Ava to watch too"

* * *

That night they decided to sit down as a family movie night

"I'll make the popcorn" Aaron announced

"Nah, Buddy you'll still a little too young for that" Jack said

"Dad! I'm not too young" Aaron whined

"You're only 10 Buddy" Kate intervened

"I'm 10 and a half mom!" Aaron informed her as if it mattered

"Me and Dad will get the popcorn, you put the movie in" She said

Walking in the kitchen, she grabbed a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave, walking back over to Jack

"So why did we both have to make popcorn" Jack asked, pressing her against the counter

Kate smiled and leaned up to kiss him, they kissed hungrily at first, like they needed to taste each other the way they needed blood, then they slowed it down, letting their tongues roam each other's mouths, hands memorizing each other's bodies until the sound of Ava crying broke them out of their make out session. They both jetted to the living room, once they got there Ava already stopped crying, the scene before them melted both of their hearts. Aaron was holding Ava in his arms, sitting on the edge of the couch, talking to her, telling her soothing words to calm her down

"Look Dad I'm helping" Aaron smiled up at them

"Good job Buddy, You're a natural" He said

They watched the movie Aaron picked which was the Jungle Book, by the end of the movie Kate and Aaron were snuggled up on one side of the couch sleeping soundly and Ava was fast asleep on Jack's chest with a handful of his shirt in her little hand, he smiled at the scene around him, taking the blanket off the back of the couch, scooted closer to his wife and son and covered all four of them with blanket, before closing his eyes and fallen into a peaceful sleep himself.

* * *

A few days later, Jack felt wet kissed crawl up his neck, and one on his lips, his eyes fluttered open to take in his surroundings

"Morning Handsome"

He smiled as he saw Kate sitting on the edge of the bed "Morning Beautiful" He flattered back

"I made you breakfast" She said "Aaron helped"

"You're an angle, I'm so hungry" He said and saw her blush "But what's the occasion?"

Kate kissed him again "You don't know what today is?"

Jack pretended to think about it for a while before shrugging "Wednesday?"

Kate face dropped and she looked disappointed, making a move to get off the bed, Jack quickly pulled her back down to him, her belly creating a distance between the two "Of course I know what today is Kate"

"Really? You remember?"

Nodding he said "This is the day I stopped you from leaving, the day I told you I loved you"

Kate's smile grew wider before adjusting herself to kiss him again "I love you Jack"

"I love you too, Now help me eat this" He motioned to the food she'd brought him

A week later, Kate gave birth to their son, with Jack holding her hand telling her' it would be alright' the whole time. Their son had short brown hair, with his daddy's big brown eyes. They named him Landon Shephard.

They brought him home to meet his brother and sisters a few days later. They also decided that with 3 kids, a 10 year old, a 21 months and a new born baby their family was finally had all the things that make life work, love,trust and family. They were all exactly where they were destined to .Together.

**That's it, It's done!, I really hope you guys liked it, thanks for sticking around through it all. :)**

**Drop off one last review and tell me what you think! :)**


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